


A Price for Peace

by DoctorTortoise



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Darker Setting, F/M, Gen, Gritty, Politics, Self-Insert, Slight Realism, Slightly Rational, Takigakure, Technology, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24113884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorTortoise/pseuds/DoctorTortoise
Summary: Kimoto Kazuo was reborn into a world of dreams, surrounded by love and warmth, but the nightmare underneath soon made itself known. The world was cruel; it had always been cruel, but his ambition would not be held back. He was determined to bring peace, no matter the cost.A reincarnate works to revolutionize a world of endless warfare.
Comments: 28
Kudos: 104





	1. Prologue

#  **Prologue**

I was sixteen years old when the bombs dropped. I had grown up in peace while enjoying the greatest luxuries of the twenty-first century, but greed had tainted the minds of those in power. Our lives were sacrificed for their desire, and I hated them for it.

I recalled cowering in a bunker and desperately wishing for a return to the tranquil days of my youth on one moment, and nothing but darkness in the next.

I awoke to an overwhelming light and sounds that drove spikes into my head. I couldn't move, my limbs trapped with phantom bindings, but my jaw seemed to work, as did my lungs.

With no other option available, the newly born Kimoto Kazuo screamed.

* * *

The coming weeks were spent in and out of consciousness. I would open my eyes, try to focus, but my body betrayed me, until one day it didn't.

I cracked my eyes open and tried to focus on what was in front of me. With excruciating effort, the picture finally cleared, showing me the face of a woman offering nothing but warmth and adoration. I didn't know who she was, or why she was so big, but I knew I loved her.

* * *

Over the month that followed I slowly understood my situation. I had somehow been reincarnated. My new life seemed to exist several decades before my last, and I guessed that I lived in Japan given the architecture around me. Technology seemed far less advanced, but some things seemed out of place. My room had functional electric lights, and my mother cooked on a fairly modern-looking stove, but our family still wrote with brushes and ink, and often read from scrolls. As the months carried on, I began to notice more and more inconsistencies with what I knew.

My parents kept knives and needles lying around everywhere, sometimes they would move far too fast for the eye to see, and I swore I had once seen my mother light the stove with a small flame that shot from her fingertip. For a while, I held my childish imagination responsible for many of these oddities, but a few days after my first birthday the truth hit me like a boulder.

My mother had taken me out of the house for the first time, letting me join in on her regular grocery run. For a short while, I simply took in the sights around me, and processed the unfamiliar architecture and environment.

It wasn't until they left the first store that I realized my new situation. I saw a man walk out after us in a strange outfit: sandals, cargo pants, a grey vest, and a lighter grey turtleneck, but what really stood out was his headband. On it, was a large metal square protecting his forehead. As I gaped in astonishment at the strange man, he suddenly disappeared, leaving behind little more than a cloud of dust.

Somehow, in my rebirth, I had emulated the protagonists of hundreds of light novels and manga alike. I had been reincarnated in a fantasy world - the world of Naruto.

* * *

Drawing my eyes away from the spot the shinobi had just vacated, I stared up at my mother in shock. She stared back in amusement, laughter dancing in her eyes at my astonished expression.

I brought together all of my experience from the months I had spent babbling, to force out a stuttered word as I pointed at the scene of the incident.

"G- Gone!" I squealed.

It was my mother's turn to be shocked. She digested her son's first word for only a second, before breaking out into laughter and pulling me even closer.

"Yes, he is gone, little one," she replied happily.

* * *

The next several weeks were spent in a mixture of wonder, excitement, and fear: wonder for the truly magical world I was now in, excitement for what my future might bring, and fear for the horrors I knew were coming.

I spent as much time as possible trying to prime myself for success. I ran around as much as my little body would allow, pushing for more every day. I pestered my mother with questions constantly throughout the day, annoying her and amusing her in equal parts.

I learned that I was in Takigakure: the Village Hidden by the Waterfall. My parents were both shinobi, and my grandparents had been amongst the first citizens of the village.

I spent as much time as possible trying to find my chakra, and found success after only a few months. I had expected some fanfare; I thought there might be a burst of force or some grand understanding. In reality, I slowly became aware of a slight warmth under my skin, and one day when I strained my focus with all my might, it _moved_.

My mother seemed to notice my escapades, because a few days after my first success she held her hand against my stomach, allowing me to feel a slowly swirling warmth.

My days continued in this enjoyable routine, until half a year had again passed, and my father made his first appearance.

* * *

"He looks just like his grandfather, doesn't he?" spoke a large, scarred man.

I looked up at the new face searchingly. I saw pitch-black hair, just like my own and my mother's, but a far darker skin tone. The man had a large scar running down the left side of his face, and another down his chin.

Despite his somewhat fearsome appearance, I sensed nothing but joy and affection in the man's eyes.

"I see a little of your mother as well," replied my mother. I put two and two together as my mother spoke.

"Kazuo," she addressed me. "This is your father, he's been away protecting all of us, but he's back now. Call him papa," she instructed gently.

I looked back up towards the man who had missed the first year and a half of my life. Had I been an ordinary child, I might have been a bit wary, but I knew of what this world had to offer, and understood my father had probably been left with little choice.

"Papa," I said resolutely, bringing forth a laugh from the imposing man.

"My, what a serious child," he spoke, holding out his arms to take me from my mother. "Just like you then," he continued. My mother simply looked down with a smile as she passed me over.

Later in my life, I would look back on the following six months as one of the most joyful periods of my life. My parents were present for the most part. On occasion, one would leave for a week, presumably on a mission, but most of our time was spent together as a happy family.

I felt unbelievably lucky to have been gifted with such happiness in this world, but as the seventh month started it all went wrong.

* * *

I woke from my slumber with a start, as an alarm rang out through the night and an oppressive force crashed down.

My mother soon burst into the room, clothed in a grey vest and dark pants rather than her usual dress. She swiftly gathered me into her arms, and the world around them turned into a blur.

She passed me off to an elderly lady, before crouching down to look me in the eye.

"Kazuo," she said, keeping her voice level despite the fear that even I could see in her eyes.

"I need you to do something for mama," she continued. "Stay with aunty, cling tight to her, and stay strong. Mama and Papa will be back soon to get you, okay?" she promised.

As I watched her leave, somehow I already knew I wouldn't see her again.

The night continued in a haze of terror and destruction, and all I could think was 'this wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't Konoha.'

I passed out from the pressure around me. As my consciousness departed, an emotion bubbled up within me once again, directed towards this world. I felt hatred.

* * *

Ignore this: Webnovel needs it present to make sure I'm not plagiarizing when I copy over the story. I'll be updating here, the same as always.

038d85ce2ae887913cfe0f6f95ce3fb4 I'm serializing this work on Webnovel. Head over to Webnovel for the other chapter updates! https://www.webnovel.com

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired in large part my Waki Paki's Thread Plague, I decided to make my own Takigakure-centric SI.
> 
> I'll embrace a bit of realism/rationalism in this fic, but only so-far as to combat the Shounen logic the original series runs on. It will be nowhere near as depressingly gritty as the 'darkness for the sake of darkness' fics you often see, or as clinical as actual rational fics.
> 
> My main inspirations for the AU are A World Full of Monsters, Shinobi Team 7, and Team 7's Ascension.


	2. A Pebble on a Mountain

#  **A Pebble on a Mountain**

The coming days instilled a sense of numbness. The once joyful and lively village was now a mess of rubble and despair.

For me, anguish didn't really set in until almost two weeks later. I had been far more preoccupied with confusion. When things had first settled down, I had asked the elderly lady that clung to me so tightly what had happened. She had looked down at me in sorrow and uttered a single word.

"War."

In all likelihood, she had simply been too drained to come up with an answer more appropriate for a toddler, and hadn't expected me to understand either way, but I wasn't an ordinary child.

My 'aunty' became my new caretaker, and seldom let me out of her arms - let alone her sight.

Two weeks after the assault she took me to a memorial for those who had died in battle against the 'great beast.' Those last words gave me an idea of what might have taken place, but I was too preoccupied with running my hands over the names my aunt read aloud for me.

Kimoto Sayuri and Kimoto Koji. My parents. For the first time in more than a year, I let myself go, and I cried.

* * *

For a while I held myself together, hoping that my parents would be as lucky as I was and that after death they too would get to experience the same kind of innocent happiness that I had known for the first two years of my life.

Eventually, even that gave way to despair, and time passed by as I cried in my aunt's arms.

As the days carried on my despair slowly started to abate, and in its place grew resentment.

The last feelings from my past life merged with the clamoring emotions in my heart and came together forming the perfect fuel. A pyre of hatred began to burn. Hatred for this cruel world which punished the innocent and enabled the guilty. Hatred for those who stood in power, and did nothing but adhere to the unacceptable status quo. Hatred for the world that had snatched away my happiness far too quickly.

In my last life, I had been helpless, doomed to watch on as a bystander as others brought the world to ruin around me. I would not allow the same to happen once again. The fire in my heart flared, and with it came ambition. I planned for the future, set my goals, and resolved myself to the path of a revolutionary.

In this world, strength spoke more loudly than any language, so I would become the strongest of all, and I would drag this world into the light.

* * *

When my aunt first set me down, I immediately began running. Around the room again and again, with no destination other than the run itself. When I could run no longer, I dropped to the ground and started trying to do a push-up. My aunt looked on in confusion, but she didn't question me that night.

I continued in my efforts to strengthen my body day after day. Running till exhaustion, contorting my body in all manners in an effort to build strength, and when I was completely unable to move I would strain with my chakra, closing my eyes and imagining my mother's hand was still on my stomach. After nearly a week of continuous effort, my aunt finally asked what I was doing.

"I'm training," I replied seriously. "I'm going to become so strong that there's no more war."

My response was nothing but the truth, for there was no reason to lie. The look of anguish that crossed my aunt's face at my assertion caused my resolve to waver for a split second, but it was nowhere near enough, and I continued.

* * *

As the days carried on my aunt had taken to completely ignoring my training. I had rather easily inferred that shinobi were a sensitive topic for the woman, and she had probably told herself that I was just a child who would get over it eventually.

A knock sounded on the door, and when my aunt slid it open, shock played over her face for a split second before she bowed deeply.

"Lord Shibuki," she greeted the regal teenager who stood outside the doorway. He smiled softly at her.

"Miss Mori," he greeted in return. "May we enter?"

"Of course," my aunt - who I now knew held the surname Tanaka - responded, guiding the teenager and his two companions to the living room where I stood observing.

The teenager, Shibuki, was clearly an important figure. He was dressed in ornate robes, and was followed by two shinobi who wore a uniform similar to what I had often seen my parents wear.

"Hello young Kimoto," he greeted, crouching down to my level. I mimicked my aunt by bowing down towards him.

"Hello Lord Shibuki," I greeted him in return. When I looked up, there was a slight look of interest on his face. I was well aware of how unusual my mannerisms seemed. Two-year-olds simply weren't aware of social customs, and couldn't be expected to follow them.

Shibuki's face cleared quickly, and he gave me a small smile.

"Do you know who I am, little one?" he asked. I shook my head. I could infer Shibuki was likely some member of royalty, but I had no guesses as to exactly what his role was.

"No sir," I responded.

"Well," Shibuki started. "I'm in charge of this village," he explained. "And to do that I help take care of children whose parents might not be here right now."

I nodded, not trusting my voice at the moment. It was a nice way of putting it, but I had a more intimate understanding of what death meant than anyone else I knew of.

"I understand that your aunt Akari here has been taking care of you over these past weeks?" he asked? I nodded again, once more making a note of my aunt's name. "Well, you'll be staying with her for now, is that alright?" he followed up. I nodded for a third time. I had been happy with the kind woman, and it's not like I expected a refusal to have any effect.

"Certainly, Lord Shibuki, I would be happy to stay with her" I replied slowly, trying my best not to stumble over any words and keep a lisp out of my voice. I was impatient, and I wanted formal training as quickly as possible.

From what I knew, this was a world where six-year-olds could go to war if they showed enough talent, so I hoped that by showing enough intelligence I would be able to advance rapidly. I doubted one sentence would be anywhere near enough, but every small bit helped.

"I'm glad to hear that," Shibuki replied. "I assume that's alright with you, Miss Mori?" he asked, turning towards my aunt Akari who had just returned to the room after fetching tea and some biscuits. She nodded immediately, and smiled warmly towards me.

"I would be honored to look after young Kazuo," she responded. The two sat down after that, and made small talk, occasionally asking me a question or involving me in the conversation. I made sure to respond as eloquently and steadily as possible, but the words of a two-year-old rarely held any weight. After a while, the conversation died down, and Shibuki stood up. He turned towards me and once again addressed me.

"I'm afraid I must be off now, but before I leave, is there anything else I can do for you?"

I stopped to think for a moment. I couldn't think of anything in particular which would be feasible and beneficial, so I just decided to wing it.

"I want to be a shinobi," I asked resolutely. It couldn't hurt to ask. Unfortunately, Shibuki had a rather reasonable response. He laughed indulgently.

"Anyone can become a shinobi in Takigakure, young mister Kimoto, there's no need to worry," he reassured, but I didn't give up and tried one last probe.

"But I want to be a shinobi early," I insisted, doing my best not to seem too childish. Unfortunately, it was incredibly hard to do so with a two-year-old's body and voice. Shibuki's smile once again became slightly melancholy.

"Don't be in such a hurry to grow up," he offered, and I knew I wouldn't be getting anywhere. I pouted slightly. I certainly hadn't expected it to be that easy, but I was still disappointed.

The young lord departed soon after, and I was immediately gathered into my aunt's arms. I sighed and hugged her back. I hadn't paused my improvised training in weeks, but I supposed I could take a day off to comfort the woman I was quickly growing attached to.

* * *

Over the following weeks, a pattern formed. I would exhaust my body with my various training methods, then would take a nap in my aunt's lap. My naps started with makeshift chakra exercises, but I could barely keep those up for a handful of minutes before I became incredibly exhausted and fell asleep.

Every so often, I would begin to grow complacent. I would yearn for a smartphone, a good book, or some sort of relaxation. My resolve would waver, but the moment I slowed down my fear would reassert itself. I would remember cowering in the bunker; I would remember the look of terror in my mother's face on that night; I would remember the hatred I felt towards this world, and that hatred would reignite the flame that threatened to die out.

It grew more difficult as my aunt tried to snuff this flame. She would cook the most appetizing meals: enticing me to slow down and enjoy what I ate. As I 'exercised' in the playroom, she would read the most engaging stories she could find: enticing me to stop and listen. As I grew restless indoors, she would take me on walks through the village's forests: enticing me to slow down and appreciate the beauty around me. She did her best to give me a true childhood, but I refused to let my flame die out.

Every few days Akari would either take me to visit another household with young children or invite a family over. I would do my best to connect with the other kids, I just couldn't help the fact that I found them incredibly obnoxious. Eight months later though, Akari finally achieved some semblance of success. Despite that, I knew it was the exact opposite of what she wanted.

* * *

"Little Sora here just finished his first year at the academy," the woman, who had just been introduced as Watanabe Hana, introduced her son proudly. The young boy beamed at Akari and me from his mother's side.

"I'm at the top of my class," Sora boasted proudly. Akari smiled indulgently at him, and I stood holding her hand almost bursting in excitement.

"Wow, that's so cool!" I shouted honestly. I was truly ecstatic. After months of being introduced to ankle-biters and borderline infants, this was an incredible prize. After all, how hard would it be to get a seven-year-old to show him some of what he had learned?

The other young boy seemed to grow even brighter at my praise.

"I'm sure your father must be very proud to see you follow in his footsteps," Akari added, and received a set of rapid nods in return.

"Oh Suien was overjoyed," Hana gushed. "He was only second his first year you know?" she added conspiratorially. Akari had told me about Suien, Hana's husband, and Sora's father. Apparently the man was one of the most important Jonin in Takigakure and had been my parents' commanding officer.

It had become a bit easier to talk about them as the months carried on, and I had become eager to hear as much as possible.

"Sora," Hana addressed her son, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Why don't you show little Kazuo here to the playroom?" she instructed.

"Come on Kazuo!" the boy exclaimed, nodding at his mother's words and gesturing for me to follow.

I chased after him to a room full of toys, almost all of which were related to ninja.

"So you're a ninja?" I asked excitedly. Sora seemed a little embarrassed at my awe.

"Well," he laughed slightly. "Not yet, but when I graduate soon I will be," he added confidently. I just nodded, not really caring about the details. Either way, the kid knew far more than I did at this point.

"Coooool," I responded, drawing it out. "Can you show me some stuff?" I asked with enthusiasm.

"Umm," Sora hummed out. "I'm not sure," he said. "Like what?"

The boy brought up a good point. I thought for a moment, before aiming high.

"How about ninjutsu!" I exclaimed, not expecting much. I received just that, as Sora gave an embarrassed laugh.

"We haven't learned that yet," he admitted. "I can show you my taijutsu though?" he offered. I nodded eagerly. He got into a stance, somewhat similar to what I'd expect out of a boxer.

I wasn't too familiar with martial arts in my past life, but in some ways, I was thankful for that. I didn't imagine that ingrained habits for fighting in my past life would be very useful for fighting superhumans in this world.

I did my best to copy his stance. He looked at me slightly confused for a moment, but quickly realized what I was trying to do. I was lucky enough to find that Sora was a rather patient kid. He immediately jumped over and moved my arms and legs slightly.

"You've got to do it like this," he explained, before stepping back to take a look.

In the same manner, we moved through a set of stances, giving me an idea of what practicing katas might look like. As much as it might have tempted me to practice these stances day by day, I dreaded the risk of developing bad habits as a result of not having a teacher, and even if Sora and I started regularly getting together, I couldn't really trust a seven-year-old to correct my form.

I banished excessive thoughts from my head and focused on the present. As the evening carried on, Sora showed me more and more of what he had learned at the academy. I started to truly enjoy his company, rather than just his instruction, and by the end of the night, I realized I had made my first friend in this new world.

I didn't notice it then, but the color of my heart's flame changed slightly in that moment.

* * *

Akari was mostly happy with my budding friendship. I could still see a slight sadness in her eyes when she watched us, but as time passed she seemed to increasingly accept that she wouldn't dissuade me from choosing this path. Given the militaristic nature of hidden villages, I suspected that she wasn't even allowed to discourage me from working towards becoming a ninja, but it could have also been her naturally subdued nature.

Once again I fell into a rhythm, and the days started to blur together. I would train on my own, train with Sora, spend some time with my Aunt to ease her sadness, and repeat. As I grew more comfortable with the constant hard work, the fluctuations in my level of dedication started to ebb. Sora's companionship helped greatly. His work ethic was far greater than I would ever expect from a seven-year-old, and I insisted on holding myself to a much higher standard.

A few weeks after my third birthday Shibuki visited again, and I repeated my request to become a shinobi early. Once again I was denied. I held an extremely advanced level of maturity, and chakra granted the potential to become superhuman, but even in this world it was possible to just be 'too young.'

I refused to let that stop me though. When Shibuki came to visit the next year, I had a 'pitch' prepared. I showed him that I could read; I showed him that I could run; I showed him that I had strength, and I showed him that I could use chakra. Sora stood by my side the entire time and vouched for me. The young man watched impassively as I continued. When I was done and with a flicker of sorrow in his eyes, he acquiesced.

At four years of age, I was enrolled in Takigakure's shinobi academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed things over to first person, because I feel like it captures the themes of the story more effectively.


	3. A Traveler Walks By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for reviews

#  **A Traveler Walks By**

"Morning aunt Akari!" Sora greeted brightly as he entered the house.

"Good morning Sora," she returned happily from the kitchen. I listened from my room as I readied myself for my first day. I didn't fuss too much, as I wasn't all that worried about meeting other children or the impressions I would give, but I at least wanted to seem put together.

"Where's the little grandpa," I heard Sora call from the other room. He had taken to calling me that after our first few weeks regularly spending time together. It was hard to constantly talk like a young child when I held the memories of one much older, and that often slipped through. My frequent bouts of excessive eloquence had earned me Sora's nickname. I didn't hate it. In fact, I appreciated the endearment it implied, but for the sake of friendship, we all put on airs.

"Don't call me that!" I shouted, stepping out of my room.

"Ah, found him!" Sora exclaimed as he looked over at me.

We were both dressed pretty similarly. Navy cargo pants with a dull green shirt. The only difference was that mine was half-sleeved while his was long, and I could see a hint of mesh armor peeking out underneath. Sora had graduated from the academy a few months ago at the ripe age of nine. As a genin, he had to wear some degree of armor when on duty. The mesh armor I vividly remembered from characters in a manga I had once read was a rather ingenious invention. It was made with a kevlar-like material that offered reasonable protection from cuts and stabs while remaining breathable.

As I slipped on my shoes Sora continued to talk.

"Come on! You don't want to be late on your first day," he insisted.

"Sora, if we leave now we'll be almost half-an-hour early."

"Yeah but otherwise you'll get stuck behind a whole bunch of people before getting your assignment and trust me, it's really boring," he explained.

"I think Sora is right, Kazuo," Akari chimed in, bringing over my bento.

"You'll also have more time to choose a better seat in class," she added. I knew they were right, but exhausting your chakra reserves every night made it incredibly difficult to wake up on time, and it always left me short-tempered and grouchy in the morning.

"Yeah, yeah I get it I'm ready," I pouted. "I even got my bag ready last night so I'd be on time!"

Akari simply smiled indulgently while Sora made for the door.

"I've also got to make it to the training field on time, remember?" he added, bouncing on his feet.

My hatred for this world peeked its head out, as a part of me wanted to feel sick looking at him. Here he seemed like little more than a cheerful child, but the world around him had deemed him ready to kill. I was well aware that chakra made things drastically different from my old world. Sora was far more developed than any nine-year-old I had known in my past life. When he settled down and got serious, he could reason things out as well as many adults. I just felt that he shouldn't have had to turn his advanced intelligence towards privatized warfare in order to succeed in this world, without building up enough life experience to make that decision.

I finished packing up my bento and pulled myself out of my thoughts.

"Alright let's go!" I called, making for the door. Before I could get too far ahead, Akari reached out and took my hand.

I took in the scenery as we leisurely made our way. Takigakure was a beautiful village. In truth, it was the size of many of the major cities in this world, but congregations of shinobi were always called villages as a remnant of the warring clans era.

The village boasted a population of more than a hundred thousand, the majority of which were shinobi. We all resided within a massive crater, carved into the earth by forces I had no desire to dwell on right now. In the center of the village stood the Mother Tree, so impossibly gargantuan that chakra must have played a large role in its growth. The leaves of the Mother Tree covered most of the crater, hiding us away from the world.

An immense waterfall cascaded down the northeast edge of the crater, forming a narrow river which carved a path to the Mother Tree. At the roots of the great tree, the water had pooled into a small lake. The lake flowed out into an outlet that led to the southwest edge of the crater. At that edge was a massive tunnel that released the torrent into the outside world. I had never been outside the village, but when I stood by the tunnel I could hear a waterfall which made me suspect that our village was positioned directly next to a massive cliff face.

I had theorized that this whole crater had once been a lake, and that some being of monstrous power had carved out the tunnel as a drain. Ultimately I had no proof, and there really wasn't much reason to look into it any further.

Our walk took us directly towards the village center. A road wrapped around the central lake, and at its side were numerous ornate apartment buildings. The villagers held an almost religious love for the Mother Tree, and there was no lack of residents who wished to reside as near to it as possible. The academy, like the central office and Shibuki's household, held prime real estate in the village. It was meant to wow any prospective students and their parents, and it most certainly did so.

We rounded the bend of the lake road and approached Takigakure's shinobi academy.

"Here we are," Sora announced proudly, as if we could have somehow missed the building.

At the front towered a massive pagoda, making the building resemble a shrine or palace more than a school. At the rear, a long schoolhouse extended outwards, mimicking a shadow for the tall building. It trailed off at the end of the block, forming a rear entrance at the edge of the other road. On the other side of the street, there was another, larger schoolhouse that extended outwards, forming a large, flat building that followed the curvature of the road. During peacetime, this academic complex would house as many as fifteen thousand students between the ages of six and twelve.

These students would go on to become Genin, who performed low-risk grunt work to gain experience on the field. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty, these genin would go on to become Chūnin, either by showing sufficient combat ability, responsibility, and tactical prowess, or by aging out and being relegated to an administrative role as a Chūnin for the rest of their careers. There were a miraculous few who were able to develop further and go back to the field, but it was incredibly rare.

From the Chūnin, those few who were able to show outstanding abilities in a particular field would be given the honorable rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin. An even more elite few would show overwhelming ability in a number of fields, and would be granted the rank of Jōnin.

"Come along, let's find your class," Akari directed, and I realized I had been staring at the building in awe for the past several moments. I nodded and followed after her.

"Hold on a sec!" Sora called. "I've gotta head out now, but you're gonna kill it out there little gramps," he told me seriously, crouching down slightly to look me in the eye.

"I know you'll probably get out of here even quicker than I did, but try to make some friends and have a little fun, okay?" he asked.

It was times like these I remembered he wasn't just a nine-year-old boy. He was a shinobi, and with that came not only superhuman strength, speed, and durability, but also superhuman intelligence. Knowing him had made it far easier to reconcile what I knew of people like Itachi, Kakashi, and Shisui.

I smiled lightly and gave him a nod.

"I'll try Sora, but you know I can't stand most kids," I responded.

"For now, maybe. You'll probably end up with the graduating class in the next couple of years, and some of them will probably be able to keep up with you," he assured. I doubted it, but I acquiesced if only to ease his mind.

"Alright, I hope so."

He gave me a smile and patted my shoulder.

"Okay aunt Akari, Kazuo, I'll see you guys around!" he called as he made to leave.

"Good luck with your missions!" my aunt called back.

"Bye Sora!" I added. The moment he was gone my aunt's eyes turned to me. I couldn't help but fidget under her gaze.

Akari crouched down to embrace me, but there was tension in her shoulders. Her discomfort with my choices persisted, and I suspected it would remain that way.

She exhaled slowly.

"I know you'll do great," she started. "Just make sure to become strong. I'm counting on you to reach your dream," she said, choking slightly at the end.

"Of course," I reassured her confidently. Despite my words, my heart was pounding in my chest. I had spent as much time in the care of this woman as I had with my mother.

Even though I hadn't found myself as attached, I still cared for her deeply, and could help but feel some guilt at the pain I knew I caused her. She embraced me for a little longer before she stood up and regained her composure. I took her hand again, and we entered the building.

* * *

"Alright students, quiet down!" came an imposing voice from the front of the room.

The classroom I sat in was rather plain. In fact, it's plainness was its defining feature. There were no posters of any sort, no shelves, no closets. Just a chalkboard at the front, the teacher's desk, and several rows of terraced, bench-style students' desks facing towards the board.

As the man spoke, the class quieted down immediately. Almost all of the students here were children of shinobi, and had been raised with enough familiarity with chakra to exhibit a substantially advanced mental development. Further, to be allowed into the academy a child had to display sufficient maturity.

"My name is Sugita Mamoru," said the man at the front. He had slightly long, dark brown hair tied back into a short ponytail and an unremarkable face. He wore the standard Chūnin uniform: navy pants, grey long-sleeves, and a dull green vest. In some ways, he reminded me of what I might have expected Genma to look like in real life.

"You may call me Mamoru-sensei," he continued. "Understood?"

There was a moment of confusion as we all guessed how we should respond, before a cacophony of affirmations came from the class. The newly identified Mamoru shook his head.

"I want to hear a 'Yes Mamoru-sensei,' got it?" he directed. We did our best to follow.

"Yes, Mamoru-sensei."

The man nodded in satisfaction. He paused for a moment to look over each of us before he took a slow breath. He then started to speak.

"You have all entered the academy because you were deemed ready to become the next generation of protectors for the Land of Waterfalls.

You will spend the next four years strengthening your bodies and minds to the highest degree, before joining the ranks of the greatest shinobi force in the world.

I am incredibly proud to stand before you today. When I look at you, I look at the bright future in these troubling times. From today to the end of your shinobi career, you will each be trusted with the spirit of this blessed village, and I know that this trust is rightfully placed. You are my hope, and over the coming years, you will become my pride.

Each and every one of you is filled with excellence, and I can not wait to see it shine.

Thank you for becoming a part of something greater."

As the man finished, he bowed deeply to the class of four, five, and six-year-olds.

I couldn't help but feel impressed by his speech. It was eerily reminiscent of what might be expected from a cult, but that probably served their purposes perfectly.

The message was overwhelmingly empowering and positive. It was probable that some of the wordings had been too advanced for many of the listeners, but the message was simple enough to derive from context, and being assumed intelligent would likely do more to endear the children than using more basic language.

In a puff of smoke, a stack of papers entered the teacher's hand.

"Today we will be determining your placement," Mamoru explained, passing out the papers. "Some of you have received training prior to entering the academy, and may be better served by moving forward," the teacher continued.

I couldn't help but get a little excited. I had spent the better part of the past two years training in every way possible. I understood that it didn't really matter in the long run, but this would be the first concrete recognition I would be able to earn for my efforts.

I had never been above pridefulness.

"You may now start," came Mamoru's voice as the papers had all been passed out. Immediately the room was filled with sounds of pages flipping and pencils scratching.

* * *

Once we had completed our written exams, we had all been taken outside for the remaining assessments.

"We'll start with speed and endurance," Mamoru informed. "I want you all to line up single file in the first row of the track."

Once we were in position, he continued to explain.

"I want you all to run as fast as you can to the line at the other end of the straight part of the track, got it?"

"Yes, Mamoru-sensei," we echoed.

One by one the students shot off in a hundred-meter sprint.

As I watched the first few students go, I couldn't help but feel amazed. I watched as six-year-olds, one after another, all ran a hundred meters in less than ten seconds. In another world athletes trained for decades and to reach such speeds at their peak. Here it was the bare minimum to be a worthwhile recruit.

When it was my turn I braced myself at the line and preened slightly.

I had expected reinforcing my muscles with chakra to be a complicated process, and had struggled with it for weeks before realizing I was an idiot. I often saw Sora moving extremely quickly, and his mother, Hana, was a competent Chūnin, so I just asked. They both had the same answer. You simply pushed chakra into your limbs. Exactly how you 'pushed' felt slightly different for everyone, but there was little in the way of a technical answer. It relied on believing rather than thinking.

For most, it only took a few weeks of work after development sufficient chakra control. For me though, despite having significantly advanced control of my chakra, it had been hard to move past my scientific understanding of how my body worked. It took five months of work for me to put my faith into the mystic force of chakra before it had finally clicked.

I felt the cool buzz of energy spread through my arms and legs. I imagined it seeping through the space between my cells, and strengthening both muscle and bone.

The world stilled around me, and my ears strained for the mark.

"Start!" came the call.

I shot off. The world blurred as I accelerated to the speed of a galloping horse. Laughter bubbled up from my lungs as I felt more alive than ever before.

There was no comparison to the thrill of running at superhuman speeds. Over the past week of practice, I had grown to greatly envy Namikaze Minato, A the Unruly, and others alike.

Peace and revolution were still my goal. They were what I would fight, bleed, and kill for, but if I just happened to become the fastest man alive along the way? It would be very much appreciated.

I realized the track was starting to bend in front of me, and I pulled myself out of my thoughts to ensure I didn't hit a fence. I sped past the line, and skidded to a halt before looking over to the teacher confidently.

He gave me a proud look and smiled widely.

"Very good! Four-point-eight-eight seconds, I almost couldn't keep up with you!" Mamoru complimented joyfully while giving me my time. "Kazuo, correct?" he clarified, before turning to look over at the murmuring students.

I wasn't the first to use chakra to speed myself up. Another girl had managed to get a time in the upper six seconds, so unless she was just naturally a freak of nature, there had most definitely been some intentional chakra enhancement involved. Nonetheless, my time was a drastic outlier.

"You should all take note. Kazuo here used chakra to make himself faster, much like Hisoka earlier," he explained, referencing the girl I had just thought of. "I'm sure the pair of them worked very hard to become so quick, but don't worry! You will all soon learn how to do the same," he offered enthusiastically.

I was beginning to understand why this man taught first-year students. He had yet to offer a single sentence that didn't help build up our self-esteem and self-worth. He was doing everything possible to empower us; after all, children would only excel if they believed they could excel. Breaking down egos and building discipline could come after we had built up some degree of personal ability.

'Well played, Mamoru-sensei, but I'm on to you!' I noted mentally, fighting down my proud grin and blush.

His words and my performance seemed to light a fire in the rest of the students. More than halfway down the line another student seemed to have some training and managed to post a time in the mid-five seconds. I wasn't too worried, until a scrappy looking boy with shaggy, dirty blonde hair lined up, looked up at me confidently, and smirked. When he shot off, I could immediately tell he was different from the rest. He was a little taller than me, so given that I was already pretty large for my age, I assumed he was older than me.

He hadn't even finished and I was already making excuses.

The moment the boy made it past the finish line he spun around and slid to a stop, before looking up at Mamoru expectantly.

"Four-point-seven-two seconds, excellent work!" the teacher announced proudly.

'Damn it!' I inwardly cursed as I worked to ensure my pout didn't turn into a scowl.

'What the hell is it with blondes and stupid speed?'

"Sho, correct?" Mamoru confirmed from the boy, knocking me out of my thoughts.

"Yes sir!" he called back while beaming proudly.

"I'm very impressed Sho," Mamoru continued. "Once again class, don't feel discouraged by the performance of your classmates. They've worked hard for this, and you can all go just as far if you work for it," he reassured. As he spoke, Sho scrambled over to where I stood.

"Didya see that?" he questioned excitedly, as if I could have somehow missed it. I nodded, letting his childishness ease my competitiveness.

"Yeah, I love going fast!" I replied, finding common ground. Maybe I'd be able to keep from disappointing Sora with my socialization skills.

"Right!" he shouted back happily, getting uncomfortably close to my face. "I worked with my dad for like months to go that fast. Oyama Takeo, he's a Tokujō yanno?" he chattered at me proudly. I nodded indulgently.

"Oh, nice! I just worked with my friend and his mom. He's a Genin and she's a Chūnin," I replied. From my little social experience I knew that when talking with shinobi about shinobi topics, rank was more important than anything else, and was always mentioned when describing someone.

Indeed I had joined a cult.

"Cooool," he drew out, not seeming all that interested. "So how old are you? I'm here a year early and I thought I'd be super small, but you're like even smaller than me!" he exclaimed in rapid-fire. The pace of his words was almost overwhelming, and I had to stop myself from laughing at the kid's eagerness.

"I'm four, but I'm taller than others my age," I informed him insistently. I didn't really feel any irritation towards my current height. I may have dearly missed my sixteen-year-old stature, but I was taller than average, and I knew I'd grow. I just had to keep repeating that in my head.

The other boy nodded as if he was vindicated.

"I knew it," he stated resolutely. He continued to chatter away at me as the rest of the students took their turns, offering brief pauses for me to respond, and by the end of it, I was thoroughly entertained.

With someone else, I might have been annoyed, but his innocent enthusiasm was strangely endearing.

After the last sprint, Mamoru let us off for a half-hour break.

* * *

"Alright class, when I give the signal, you'll have thirty minutes to get through as many laps as possible," Mamoru instructed.

"Ready?

Start!"

At his signal we all shot off. I immediately shot to the front. I knew that pacing myself was important, but I didn't particularly care. I was here to excel, and I would never break through limits by playing it safe. I didn't plan on going too crazy though. Staying towards the front definitely required some effort, but I knew I had it in me.

After around a dozen laps, the students had separated out. As I continued to run I observed my surroundings. There were a number of tracks in this field, but I wasn't able to count how many from this angle. I could see other classes either running laps or sprints on the other tracks, and there were a number of students seemingly on a break. I knew that each year the academy generally took in twenty-five hundred students, but during wartime, that number must have been significantly inflated. It was truly astonishing that they were able to evaluate so many students so quickly.

By the time I left my thoughts, there was only one other student keeping pace with me. Sho was stuck somewhere in the middle of the pack; we had lapped him twice already, and the other student who had shown an exceptional sprint time was running even more slowly than him. The girl who had first demonstrated her ability to reinforce her body with chakra, Hisoka if I remembered correctly, was also giving an impressive showing. Trailing us by just over half a lap.

After another lap, the boy keeping pace with me looked over before kicking up his speed significantly. Eager for the challenge, I sped up to keep pace. By the time Mamoru warned us that the last minute was coming up, we had both started to sweat heavily, and I could barely hear anything over my own heartbeat. I briefly considered using chakra, but I didn't have nearly enough practice to trust myself with it in my exhausted state.

By the time Mamoru called time, I hadn't even been able to keep track of my competition. I immediately stumbled into a walk and caught my breath. I looked around, only to grin in victory when I saw the kid a few steps behind me.

Meeting Sho had left me optimistic, so after resting for a few moments I decided to address him.

"Hey, good race!" I called over.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. The boy snorted in annoyance and turned away to head towards the class.

* * *

Our next two tests were Bukijutsu and chakra control. With the former, I had just barely performed on par with the average. My hands just weren't big enough to properly hold kunai, and my arms weren't long enough to throw with enough speed to stay accurate. I was a little better with shuriken, but my finger dexterity wasn't quite there yet.

With chakra control though Mamoru had us perform the leaf concentration exercise, and I had been doing that since I was two. I took my second win for the day, and accepted my imaginary trophy gracefully.

* * *

"Alright, now we'll be moving on to our final assessment," called our teacher. Hearing that made me a little disappointed. I had liked Mamoru from what I had seen, but hopefully, after today, I would be moved up a few years.

"How many of you have learned Taijutsu at home?" he asked. Almost half the students' hands went up. "I want you to be completely honest with me," he expanded. "I'll be calling you up one by one, so please put your hand down if you don't think you know that much."

At his clarification, hands started to trickle down. Some may have just been nervous, but I suspected many of them had just been bluffing about their knowledge to start with. Around a third of the students' hands remained in the air.

"Very good," Mamoru said, nodding. "Now, I'll be calling you up one by one to demonstrate any katas you might know. He started to go down the list of names.

I made a note of Aoyama Hisoka and Anzai Katsuo as they were called up. The former had been amongst the top of the class in all of the categories I had been able to see, while the latter had exceeded the former in all but endurance, where he fell significantly short, and chakra control, where he faltered just before the other girl. I suspected they would also be moved forward depending on how well they did here.

The two both showed fairly solid stances and smooth movements, as far as young children went at least, but the students who followed came off as much more unbalanced.

"Kimoto Kazuo," Mamoru called.

I came up to the front of the class.

"What katas have you been taught, Kazuo?" he asked kindly.

"The academy set for all years," I informed him. He nodded in affirmation, and offered a proud smile for the fourth time today.

"Wonderful," he said, directing me to the spot in front of him. "Let's start."

I began with his call.

"Tora," he said, directing me to the first stance.

"Hebi,

Kuma,

Sai," he continued in order. Each word referred to an animal the stance was supposed to be based on. I could barely see the resemblance, but I didn't really feel like questioning it.

I continued longer than any of the other students. Hisoka, who had taken the longest before me, had only gotten to the fifth years' stances.

I remembered two years ago, when I had first practiced Taijutsu, that I had intended on waiting until I reached the academy to learn katas to avoid developing bad habits. The very next time I went to visit, I came to the immense realization that Hana was a Chūnin. Feeling uncomfortably sexist for having discounted the woman for dressing like a housewife, I convinced Sora that we would have fun practicing as she observed. I was lucky that Sora hadn't grown out of his 'adoration phase' towards his parents at that time, so we made a habit of it when I visited every other day. Now that I thought about it, it was a little odd how our families were so close and I still had no clue as to why.

'I should really ask aunty how we know Suien and Hana,' I thought to myself as I finished the last of my stances.

Mamoru offered me a few more congratulatory words and a smile before moving on to the next students. I wasn't surprised to see Sho called up next. It seemed that any shinobi parents that had the time available to teach their children anything were intent on doing the most possible. Their actions were certainly understandable. With war raging at our doorstep, they wanted to maximize their children's chances of survival.

When the last of the students finished, Mamoru turned to us again.

"We're almost done now," the teacher reassured, sensing some boredom.

"Can Kazuo and Katsuo please come over to the ring," he called, walking over to a circular dirt patch in the field.

"You both seem to have a significant amount of experience with Taijutsu," he explained. "Have either of you sparred before?" he asked. We both nodded.

Most of my spars had occurred at my insistence, and had involved getting my ass kicked by Sora under Hana's watchful eye. After months of improvement I had started to keep up. Not because of my own improvements though. I had indeed gotten significantly better, but Sora had also gotten better to the point that he was able to hold himself back effectively, allowing me to get more utility out of our spars. It would take a few more years for me to build up enough strength and chakra to make up for any significant age and size differences.

"Perfect!" he offered happily. "I want you both to stand in the center of the ring."

He continued speaking once we were ready.

"Now, can you bring your right hand forward with two fingers extended like this," he instructed, showing us with his own hand. "Clasp your fingers together," he explained before continuing.

"This is called the seal of confrontation. It's a tradition we've received from our good friends over in Konoha," he added. "You will make this seal every time you fight a comrade, both before and after. Understood?" he questioned with a sterner tone than he had put on for the rest of the day. He looked first towards us, then the rest of the class expectantly.

"Yes, Mamoru-sensei," we chorused.

"Good, now begin on my signal," he instructed.

"Start!"

Immediately we broke off. Katsuo decided to rush forward first, and threw a thoroughly telegraphed punch towards my face. Sora often moved too quickly for me to avoid, even if I saw him coming, but the same could not be said for this six-year-old.

I moved to the side, and considered pushing him over due to his lack of balance, but wasn't able to figure out how before he swung again.

This time when I ducked under his punch I offered one of my own towards the inside of his right knee. He immediately collapsed to the right, and I capitalized with a gut-shot as I stood up.

As his breath was forced out of his lungs, I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled down with my whole body, bringing him to the ground where I immediately sat on his back and kept my hands on his neck.

It wasn't exactly an elegant fight, but I was four, what could I do? I looked up at the teacher.

"Very good you two, Kazuo wins," he confirmed. "Now what do we do?" he asked as we got up. I offered my fingers to the immensely disappointed boy as he stood up. Feeling a little bad about essentially beating up a child, I offered some words of encouragement.

"Hey, you're really good!" I reassured. "I had to get beat up for years to get that good," I explained, technically telling the truth, "and you're almost as good as me!"

As I finished, the boy's eyes lit up slightly.

"Really?" he asked. "I just started sparring last month," he said, "but my mom says I've been getting good fast!" he boasted, his spirits picking up again.

As we walked out of the ring we continued to talk about our training, and the teacher called up a few other pairs. By the time we had returned to the classroom, Sho, Katsuo, and I had become embroiled in casual conversation, and as I left the building with my aunt that evening I realized that I had made two new friends.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're leaving kudos, I'd really appreciate a quick comment or review! It can be hard to build up the motivation to keep writing without feedback. Thanks!


	4. A Boot Slips on a Pebble

#  **A Boot Slips on a Pebble**

I wouldn't have to return to the academy for the next three days, as they needed to evaluate a large number of students, so the next morning I returned to my regular routine. I awoke a little before sunrise to start the first of three daily workouts. I loaded a backpack with around forty pounds of various books and other household items, and gave myself an hour to do as many sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and pistol squats as possible. Afterward, I gave myself an hour and a half to run as far as possible with the backpack still on.

I was just shy of twenty miles at the moment, which seemed impressive but was nowhere near sufficient. Chūnin were expected to be able to travel at least six hundred miles in a day with a full load, and still be ready to fight at the end of it. Jōnin were held to an even higher standard, as they were meant to be prepared for everything. If I really pushed myself, I figured I could make it two hundred miles in a day. That was amazing for a four-year-old, even by this ridiculous world's standards, but it was nowhere near enough for me.

By the time I returned from my run, Akari was up and preparing breakfast.

"Morning aunty!" I greeted as I entered.

"Good morning Kazuo," she returned as I made for my room.

The long showers and slow mornings of my previous life were unheard of in a hidden village. Takigakure, like the rest of the shinobi settlements, was essentially just a massive military base for the Land of Waterfalls, and as a result, a certain degree of discipline was ingrained in its culture. It took only a few minutes for me to shower and change. I took a moment to really look at myself in the mirror.

My face still looked quite childish, but I had started to gain some definition in my features. For the most part, my looks were quite delicate, calling back to my mother, but I saw the beginnings of my father's strong jawline beneath my cheeks. My complexion was pale. Not as snow white as my mother, but a far cry from my father's tanned skin tone. My hair carried the same pitch-black color as both of my parents, and I was doing my best to emulate them by letting it grow out long. My eyes were green, as was common in Takigakure, rounding out my looks as somewhat memorable, but nothing unusual.

Back in the kitchen, a generous breakfast was waiting for me. Akari had prepared large quantities of rice, tofu, and various vegetable sides, because I needed the calories for a shinobi lifestyle. There was no meat at the table, a holdover from my past life. I had been born and raised a vegetarian then, and despite the bloody nature of my new calling, I couldn't bring myself to start eating meat now.

Vegetarianism was surprisingly common among shinobi. It was cheaper, which was always appreciated, and the sheer number of calories we consumed meant it wasn't all that hard to get enough nutrients eating only plants. Further, shinobi spent enough time shedding blood for the sake of duty. For most, this just desensitized them from any sort of violence, but for a surprisingly considerable minority, it instead left little room in their hearts for unnecessary bloodshed.

"Aunty," I started, breaking from my thoughts. Akari looked up at me from her meal. "How do we know the Watanabe family so well?" I asked. She took a moment to finish her mouthful.

"Ah, well," she began, taking a pause to wipe her mouth. "Your parents were good friends of mister Suien," she explained with a slightly brittle smile.

'So it was likely related to their shinobi careers, just as I suspected,' I surmised. Akari very much disliked talking about my parents as ninja. She would happily tell me stories of how much my mother loved to chase fireflies, or of how my father once lit his hair alight on a stove, but she always became curt when it came to their status as shinobi.

Strangely enough, the one thing she absolutely refused to answer was just how she was related to me. "I knew your mother from the day she was born," was the only answer I would receive, and no further details would be provided.

The remainder of our breakfast progressed in silence.

After our meal, we left for my aunt's tea house. I escorted her every morning before leaving to meet up with Sora.

* * *

I arrived at the missions' office in time to catch Sora and his team heading out.

"Sup squirt," greeted Matsouka Kou, a young shinobi and one of Sora's teammates. "Same deal as always?"

"Yup!" I responded happily. Miura Saki, a young kunoichi who was Sora's other teammate, laughed slightly and shook her head.

"I can't believe you talked him into this," she said to Sora as the group walked towards their first destination.

"I didn't do anything!" Sora insisted, "the kid's crazy; he asked me," he explained.

"Yup it works out great for me," I chimed in. "You finish your missions faster, and I get better training," I pointed out.

Our agreement was simple. The initial D-ranks a genin team received were quite boring, mainly meant to build up teamwork and resourcefulness. My extra hands could make a five-hour task into a four-hour task, and the team would let me join them on the training grounds, offering tips, and the occasional spar.

Tada Kayo, the team's Jōnin-sensei and a rather fearsome looking kunoichi, had no problems with this. Conscripting trusted and available resources was a perfectly acceptable tactic to aid in completing missions, and was exactly the kind of resourcefulness that was encouraged. Given that it was wartime, the team would soon start taking C-ranks, such as delivering non-critical communications and supplies, which I would be unable to help out with, but by that time I would be in the academy.

* * *

"Alright guys, we've going to be working rations today!" Sora announced, taking the leadership role.

His father was one of the top generals of the Land of Waterfalls, and according to the rumor mill, he was a favored contender to replace the aging Jōnin commander. Sora seemed intent on following in his father's footsteps.

I winced at Sora's declaration. I had done this mission once before, and it was definitely one of my least favorites.

In order to supply the front lines, food had to be prepared for easy transport. We would have to distribute the designated foods into individual portions, before sealing them into scrolls. Sealing scrolls weren't that hard to use, but the mission required a team to prepare fifty of them. Each scroll held a hundred seals, which meant that last time I had been responsible for sealing away a thousand meals. It was tedious work, and worst of all charging a thousand seals would wipe out most of my four-year-old body's chakra reserves.

Saki shot me a pitying look.

"Don't worry so much Kazuo," she reassured. "I'll take care of one of your scrolls."

'Bless this girl, she's a saint,' I said to myself.

"Alright, but only the sealing, and I'll organize the meals for one of yours," I responded, not willing to do less than my part. Saki smiled at me and hummed in agreement.

"Very well," she said. Like most ten-year-olds in this world, she was far more well-spoken than I would have expected.

* * *

The mission was monotonous and draining as expected. Kayo-sensei checked in on us once in a while, but didn't participate at all as was the norm. By the end of it, I was wishing for nothing more than a nine-tailed chakra battery sealed into my gut. The blonde protagonist of the world I was in could have taken care of this in seconds with his army of clones. As such, I adamantly refused to believe he could actually exist. The idea of an idiot like that stumbling into such unimaginable power, with so little effort, was extremely infuriating and discouraging.

With the day's chores complete, I joined the team on their trip to the training grounds.

* * *

As we arrived, Kayo-sensei was waiting seated on a post, sharpening a long blade.

"Brats and plus one, nice of you to make it," she teased in greeting. There was nothing malicious about it, but the gruff nature of her voice just naturally put people on edge. It was understandable, given that the woman was dangerous. She was one of the five-hundred or so Jōnin that topped off a force of over sixty-thousand shinobi, in a village that was particularly renowned for its powerful Jōnin.

Given their rarity, very few Jōnin actually took teams. I hadn't been able to find out exactly how the Jōnin who took teams were selected, but I knew they only taught the very best of the academy's graduates: only those who were almost guaranteed to become Jōnin in the future themselves.

"You two, with me," she directed to Sora and Saki, and then tossed a scroll to Kou. "Big guy, target practice," she continued before turning to me. "Shortstack, dodge," she said with a grin.

Kou gave me an apologetic smile before I had to jump sharply to avoid being bruised by a blunted kunai.

* * *

The next two days passed in much the same manner. I would complete my first workout, help on a mission, train with Team Kayo, complete my second workout, then spend time with Akari while discreetly practicing chakra control. After dinner, I would complete my third workout, exhaust my chakra reserves, and pass out for about nine hours. The largest chunk of my day was spent training my body, and that was by design. I didn't have nearly enough chakra yet to spend a significant amount of time training it, but even if I did that wouldn't have been my priority.

I had chosen to take the fictional works of Naruto I remembered with a healthy pinch of salt. The world I found myself in was far more ruthless than the convenient and occasionally zany world of the Shōnen series from my past life's youth. That being said, there were many things I couldn't really afford to ignore. Madara, the Akatsuki, and Kaguya might never come to exist, or they could be far worse than I could ever imagine. I was preparing for the latter.

What constantly echoed in my mind was Gai's last stand against Madara. At the end of it all, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu had been mostly useless unless wielded by the figurative demigods that the series revolved around. It was Taijutsu that had propelled a character to the very pinnacle of power, and between my head start and my unconventional sources of knowledge, I felt that I could go even further.

For this reason training my body took precedence over all else.

There was also my second rationale: I wasn't a true genius or prodigy. Unlike Itachi, Kakashi, and the like, I didn't have that intrinsic ability to comprehend concepts that let them use ninjutsu and Genjutsu so easily. My so-called genius was entirely due to the additional memories and mindset I carried.

Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Fuinjutsu, and similar arts required creativity, talent, and raw intellect. I wasn't lacking in any of those fields, but I didn't consider myself exceptional either. Taijutsu on the other hand required nothing more than hard work, dedication, and practice; all of which were far more accessible, and their results were amplified greatly by an earlier start. Of course, I didn't plan on keeping things this way forever. In just a few years my chakra reserves would be large enough that it would be feasible to leverage them fully, but my focus would (at least initially) be on using chakra, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu to amplify my abilities with Taijutsu and Bukijutsu.

* * *

"Yooooo, Kazuo, over here!" called a young boy's voice as I entered the academy grounds. It was Oyama Sho, one of the students I had struck up a friendship with on the day of evaluation. His shaggy blonde hair bounced up and down as he waved eagerly.

"Hey Sho, Katsuo," I greeted as I walked over. Anzai Katsuo, the other student I had befriended that day stood next to him and gave me a wave as well. Katsuo's moderate skin tone and beige clothing blended into the dirt field far too well. Had it not been for his burnt-orange hair peeking out over the crowd due to his stature, I might have missed him entirely.

"Hi Kazuo," he greeted before gesturing to the girl standing by his side. "This is Hisoka," he introduced. The violet-haired girl gave a shy smile and a small wave. "Remember her?" he prompted before Sho cut in.

"Course he remembers her, he was staring at her like half the time," Sho said matter-of-factly. I shot him a glare and Hisoka blushed slightly. I had not been staring at her. I had just been keeping track of my competition; I had stared at Sho and Katsuo just as much.

"Anyways," Sho continued, not letting me explain myself. "Go get your placement!" he exclaimed, holding up a sheet of paper. "We're all in the same class, we got moved up a year," he said proudly. I saw similar papers in the others' hands.

Their advancement was understandable. After me, I estimated that these three had given the best performances of the class in the tests I had seen. As long as they had performed well enough on the written exam, their advancement had been guaranteed. I was aiming for better though. I held the memories and mindset of a sixteen-year-old, and I didn't intend to let a five-year-old Kakashi show me up. I wanted to join the graduating class.

"Alright, I'll meet up with you as soon as I get it," I said, heading towards the line. Sho walked right next to me though, with Hisoka and Katsuo trailing right behind us.

"Why?" he asked in confusion. "We'll just wait in line with you."

'That works too' I supposed.

The line moved swiftly, and Sho's talkativeness kept us all entertained. The kid must have spoken as much as Katsuo, Hisoka, and I combined, but he was naturally charismatic enough that we didn't mind.

"Name?" asked the Chūnin sitting in front of me as I reached the front of the line.

"Kimoto Kazuo," I told him.

"Alright, one moment Kazuo," he responded as he flipped through the papers before him. He pulled out a sheet and took a quick look at it.

"Very nice work!" he complimented, handing me the sheet.

'Kimoto Kazuo, Class 315, Arai Juro,' I read, and my face fell. The '3' at the beginning of my class number indicated a third-year class. My trio of friends saw my dismay and immediately crowded around me.

"Ohmygosh, you're a third-year!" Sho exclaimed, causing a few of the other students to turn and look at me. My face reddened a little and I let out a laugh. Katsuo had a suitably impressed look on his face, and offered an impressed nod.

"Don't worry Kazuo," he started, "I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends in your class," he reassured, wrongly surmising the reason for my disappointment.

"Yeah Kazuo," Hisoka chimed in softly. "You should be proud,'' she insisted.

The girl was right; a four-year-old third year was still unheard of. We were two years into the Third Shinobi World War, which meant Kakashi would have already graduated; however, no matter how exceptional it was, the graduating age of an academy student would never be big news. Further, if I had improved enough by the end of the semester I could still move up classes and graduate this year.

With a new goal in mind, I pushed away any lingering disappointment and smiled at my friends.

"Thanks, guys!" I offered, before stopping to think. The three were clearly exceptional; especially Sho. He was on track to be a genin at eight, which was nothing to laugh at. Even Sora, the son of one of Takigakure's top shinobi, had only managed to graduate a year early.

"If you guys want," I started, "you can come train with me at my aunt's tea house," I offered. "I train my chakra control there every day."

"Sure!"

"That sounds great!"

Katsuo and Hisoka called in agreement. Sho looked at me oddly though.

"What's chakra control?" he asked. I looked at him funnily, before remembering what it meant to be five years old.

"Stuff like the leaf exercise," I explained, not wanting to get too detailed. "It helps you do ninjutsu and Genjutsu."

That definitely seemed to get his attention.

"Oh! Yeah okay, I can ask my dad about it too!" offered the excitable boy.

We continued to iron out our plans, but after a few minutes, it was time to head to class. As I approached the room I would spend most of my days in for the next five months, the excitement showed plainly on my face.

This was the start of my journey. Today marked the official start of my career as a ninja.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're leaving a kudos, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's a quick comment! It can be hard to build up the motivation to keep writing without feedback. Thanks!  
> _______________________________  
> For reference purposes, because I know OCs can get pretty hard to keep track of:
> 
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------
> 
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn into the world of Naruto from our world.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and 'aunt' of unknown relation.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First year academy student who started a year early, only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora’s genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.


	5. A Pebble Tumbles off a Cliff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for reviews.

#  **A Pebble Tumbles of a Cliff**

"Good morning class!" called a stern-looking man at the front of the room. His face sported a litany of scars and was topped off by a grey bandana, which seemed to cover the remnants of a run-in with a fire-release technique given the pink skin peeking out.

'There's no end to the handsome faces this world provides,' I idly noted, somewhat disgusted by how desensitized these children must have been for them to completely fail to react to the man's appearance.

"Good morning Juro-sensei!" chorused all but one or two stragglers. The vast majority of this class had spent at least one year in the academy already and knew the drill. They had been given their teacher's name in writing, Arai Juro, and if they couldn't keep track of it they had no real business being this far along in the academy.

"Very good," he nodded. "You all have shown that you require less than two years of development and training to become qualified shinobi," he started.

"I do not care how young you are, how important you think you are, or how skilled you think you are," he continued, taking a pause to look around the room. "My job is to spend the next year breaking you down, so that when you enter your last year you can be reforged into proper weapons for this village. Do you understand?" he finished, building up to a shout by the time he had finished.

"Yes, Juro-sensei!" the class chorused.

"Good, we will begin immediately," he stated. "I want you all to look around," he instructed. "Is there anything you notice?"

We all started to look around the room. The first thing I noticed was the other 'undersized' student. She wasn't as small as me, but she wasn't much bigger either. I placed her somewhere between five and six, but that was all I needed to have an answer. My hand shot up.

"Ah, our youngest student. Let's see if you actually belong here mister Kimoto," Juro said, gesturing for me to answer.

"Juro-sensei, most of the students in this class seem younger than average. I'm assuming this is meant to be some sort of advanced class?" I stated questioningly. Unfortunately, my four-year-old mouth still found it difficult to enunciate complicated sentences, prompting a handful of snickers from the class.

"Silence!" Juro bellowed, glaring one by one at the students who laughed. "As amusing as mister Kimoto's voice may be, he has still proven to be smarter than any of you," he admonished.

I groaned internally, knowing exactly what the tone was going to be for the year. I had almost forgotten that by skipping the first two years of the academy I would be skipping over the 'build self-esteem and self-confidence' stage, and would be thrown right into the 'break down egos and encourage competition' portion.

'I'm going to come out of this class with a bunch of jealous assholes after me,' I realized. That was probably exactly what Juro was hoping for as well. I would constantly have to work to prove I belonged here, and they would all be fighting to not be outdone by a child.

"Kimoto Kazuo is indeed correct," Juro explained in his authoritative voice, breaking me out of my thoughts. "This class has gathered students who have shown exceptional talent or ability. If you are here, the village has determined that you have an elevated likelihood of reaching the pinnacle ranks. Should you continue to excel, you may be one of the lucky few to be noticed by a Jōnin upon graduation," he explained. A few sharp intakes were heard at his declaration.

"However," he continued, as if he sensed our building excitement. "You will have to constantly work to prove that you belong here. Each quarter some of you may be moved out of this class in favor of others who have shown themselves more worthy," he explained in an imposing tone.

"Fortunately for you," he started again, decreasing the nervousness in the room slightly. "I will simplify things. You will come in and give me your hundred percent every day. In exchange, I will build you into worthy shinobi, and will allow you to continue to grace my classroom. Do we have an agreement?" he asked.

"Yes Juro-sensei!" the class chorused. Juro's explanation and promise had certainly had its intended effect on the classroom.

I assumed that almost all of the students had entered thinking themselves exceptional, and were more confident now that they had been somewhat vindicated. His warning, though, would serve to motivate them even further.

"Good, then let's continue," the scarred man stated.

* * *

The first day of classes proved to be somewhat distressing. I was pleased to find that my physical abilities weren't that far off from the pack. Given that almost all of the exercises conducted were relative to one's bodyweight, my small stature allowed me to mostly keep up. I was certainly the weakest of the group, but that was to be expected given that I was three or four years younger than the vast majority of the other students. Fortunately, at the rate I was improving, I didn't doubt my ability to reach the top of the class by the end of the semester.

Chakra though was a whole different animal. At the end of the day, chakra capacity and chakra control were all that matter, not chakra capacity relative to one's size. As a result, I was far behind the curve. Our first chakra exercise had involved leaves, much like most beginner exercises. We were told to levitate a leaf over each palm for as long as possible, without letting it drop down or fly off. I had been able to keep it up for the full hour, but felt far more strain than I saw on the face of anyone else in the class.

It pained me greatly that, as far as I knew, there was nothing I could really do about it. I meditated daily and exhausted my chakra reserves nightly, which were the only ways I knew to intentionally train chakra reserves. The rest came with increased age and physical ability, and unfortunately there were no shortcuts that I had been able to find with my resources. Regardless, my poor performance on the first day stung fiercely. Intellectually I knew that the other students here had trained for at least as many years as I had, if not significantly more, but it did nothing to improve my mood.

That evening I returned home with disappointment burning in my heart, fueling my desire to improve.

* * *

Unfortunately, I had plans which stopped me from addressing my shortcomings immediately. Sho, Hisoka, and Katsuo met up with me at my aunt's teahouse, like we had planned earlier. I showed the trio the exercise we had completed in class today, and we worked together on it for about an hour. By the time they had left, my already drained chakra reserves were treading dangerously close to empty, but I had enough in my tank for what I wanted to do.

My destination was a newly available resource I had yet to take advantage of: the academy library. There were many libraries and archives which dealt with shinobi skills, but they were closed off to civilians. Academy students were technically civilians, but the academy held a selection of books and scrolls with knowledge that was deemed either harmless or common enough to be entrusted to academy students.

With a flash of my shiny new ID, I was allowed into the large library which occupied an entire two floors of the academy's main tower.

I pulled out the largest and most advanced-looking books and scrolls on chakra theory, and began my search. A lot of it was information I had known for a long time. Chakra natures, yin and yang, physical and spiritual energy, and similar information. There were the odd bits of useful information though. For example, one book theorized used rock samples to theorize that chakra had not existed in its current quantities before around twelve-hundred years ago. To most, that would just be a throwaway piece of trivia, but it was a horrifyingly frightening consideration given the knowledge that I held.

The chance that Kaguya might be a very real threat managed to motivate me even further, and I continued to scour through words.

A little after dark, I finally managed to find something helpful.

'Some monks found that meditating in certain significant locations helped dramatically increase the quantity and potency of one's chakra,' I read from A Primer on Monastic Chakra Theory.

The wording made me immediately think of natural energy. Oddly enough, despite all the reading I had done on chakra, Senjutsu and natural energy had never been mentioned. I supposed that it must have been controlled information, and slid it into my repository of 'things to never say shit about to avoid a fun trip to interrogation.'

There was a free spot right next to 'jinchūriki.'

I thought a little further about what I had read. Takigakure had a very obvious 'significant location' which was both a part of nature and most assuredly involved a large amount of chakra. Not having come up with any better ideas, I dropped off the books and scrolls I had picked out, and headed out the front door of the academy.

The Lake of Heroes was around two kilometers across, and contained beautifully clear water which gave away only the barest of currents. In the daylight, one could see thousands of river rocks dotting the lakebed. Each of these rocks bore the name of a Waterfall shinobi that had fallen in battle. The Mother Tree was almost even more beautiful at night, with the moon peeking through the leaves. The way the lights of the surrounding apartments danced off the surface of the water only added to the beauty of the setting.

I hopped off the road, and made for the lakeshore, where I took off my clothes and folded them neatly. I then jumped into the water, and realized it was the first time I had gone swimming in this new body. I could have walked around and used the bridge, but that would have been much less fun. I let out a gleeful laugh as I began to paddle for the central island. Swimming hadn't even been one of my favored pastimes before, but for some reason it now brought me an incredible amount of joy.

I made it to the island shore in decent time. I might not have had much experience swimming with this body, but my fitness levels more than made up for it. I clambered up to the tree, and chose a solid looking root to plop down on. There were a decent number of shinobi here, meditating, reading, or just relaxing with what little free time they had.

I folded my legs, closed my eyes, and fell into a trance as I breathed in my surroundings.

* * *

I stayed like that for almost two hours, before I was so filled with excitement that I couldn't keep up my meditative trance. It wasn't an immense effect, but the sheer liveliness of the trees presence was contagious. The bone-deep tiredness that tended to creep up as chakra exhaustion approached was nowhere to be found. My chakra hadn't replenished anywhere near completely, but it was still far more than I'd achieve from an hour of rest otherwise.

I leaped off my perch with a happy shout, landing gracefully on the ground. I took in the beauty around me again with a deep breath.

Then my heart stopped.

Judging by the lights, it was late.

Akari was going to kill me.

* * *

After being thoroughly scolded for causing my aunt so much worry, I developed a convenient plan of action. Rather than exhausting my chakra reserves in bed each night, I snuck out to the mother tree with a sleeping bag. There I would meditate and conduct my chakra exercises to exhaustion, before passing out for the night. I ended up waking up far earlier than normal, and far more refreshed, which meant I had plenty of time to get home and start my workouts to avoid arousing Akari's suspicion.

My first week at the academy passed by as such. I would work out in the morning, head to the academy, then meet up with my friends. After showing them what I had learned in class, which would in turn help my comprehension, I would head home and work out again before sneaking out for the night. The following Monday though, things started to get a little more interesting at the Academy.

* * *

"Alright, we'll be heading outside to the rings today!" Juro-sensei announced. "Today we will begin spars," he informed. Despite the students' uncanny level of discipline, excited murmurs broke out throughout the classroom. Taijutsu was far more interesting than the theory, conditioning, and chakra exercises we had focused on so far.

Once we had lined up by the rings, Juro starting calling our pairs of names.

"Kimoto Kazuo and Iwamoto Maki, ring five!" he announced, calling my attention. I walked over to the large dirt patch, and was joined by the same young girl I had noted on the first day. Maki was a stern-faced girl, who's round cheeks betrayed her standoffish demeanor. Her deep-brunette hair and white yukata made me wonder if she was of some distant relation to the Hyūga, but her eyes were such a dark brown that they seemed pitch black: about as removed from the white Byakūgan as one could get.

"You should all know proper etiquette by this point," Juro stated. "Go ahead and form the seal of confrontation," he instructed. "You will begin on my mark."

I reached out with two fingers, giving Maki a smile. She did the same with a flat look on her face, and I hid a wince. I had tried reaching out to the girl a few times, hoping to make another friend, but she seemed to strongly dislike me. I supposed that she had expected to be the 'prodigy' of the year, and had been praised for her genius all her life. My existence meant that she wasn't actually that special.

'The sad thing is that she actually is exceptional, I'm essentially cheating,' I remarked in my mind. I didn't think of myself as a prodigy, despite constantly being told I was by Hana and Sora. I just had an unfair advantage.

I brought my hand back and readied myself.

"Start!" came Juro's shout.

Once again I jumped back, not wanting to take the offensive when I knew nothing of her abilities. Unlike the last young student I had faced, Maki also broke off.

We circled each other a few times, and I idly noted Juro sensei announcing another spar's victor in the background. Realizing this wasn't going to go anywhere, I took a page out of Katsuo's book.

I charged forward with a highly telegraphed punch, trying to come off as incompetent. I didn't have much experience with this kind of misdirection, but thankfully Maki took the bait. As I approached, she shifted her legs and lowered her center of gravity, likely aiming to pull me into a grapple as my punch went wide.

She ducked directly under my punch, which was when I sprung my trap. I pulled my arm back and down immediately, and dropped all of my weight onto her back and shoulders. I kicked my legs out behind me, and we both fell to the ground, with her head directly under my chest, and my head over her back.. Her face slammed into the dirt, and I scrambled to get a hold on her.

Unfortunately, she was far better trained than Katsuo, as she immediately moved to escape my grasp. Realizing that she was likely a more skilled grappler than I was, I immediately abandoned any plans of getting her into a lock, and forced all of my weight onto her shoulder blades while I grabbed one of her elbows to stop her from doing a push-up and coming free.

She continued to struggle for several moments, before Juro's voice came ringing.

"Ring five, winner, Kimoto Kazuo!" he shouted.

Maki went limp and I hopped off her. She shot up off the ground, furious, and grabbed my fingers before she stormed off. I sighed in dismay, feeling bad about bruising a young girl's pride. I knew I shouldn't have cared all that much. This was what she signed up for. Unfortunately for my conscience, she was a child, and I wasn't, regardless of what my physical appearance implied.

I laughed bitterly to myself. 'You signed up to revolutionize this world, and steeled yourself to kill anyone in your way, yet here you are whining over making a little girl sad,' I thought.

Not wanting to dwell any further, I shook away my thoughts and walked over to where some students were practicing katas.

* * *

For my next spar of the day, I was paired off against another boy who had won his first spar. He seemed to be around seven years old, with black hair and a forgettable face. He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt: an outfit I'd expect of a young boy in my past life.

"Start!" called Juro, prompting us into action. My opponent immediately started with a kick to my leg, but the way he had shifted his weight forward had left him easy to read. I leaped back and avoided the kick neatly.

He came at me with a straight punch next, but his speed was definitely lacking in comparison to those I had been sparring with for the past several months. With a neat step to the side, I was able to pull his arm forward and aim a kick at his tailbone, pushing him out of the ring.

"Winner, ring four, Kimoto Kazuo!" came Juro's shout. My opponent was clearly embarrassed, so he walked off immediately after he gave me his hand to make the seal of reconciliation.

* * *

"Start!" came Juro's shout for the third time today. Once again my opponent took the initiative, but this time he hadn't telegraphed in the slightest, and came at me with far more speed.

I squared my forearms and did my best to deflect the blow, but still felt a decent amount of pain as he connected. Not wanting to let him capitalize on his success, I immediately rolled my body to the right and shot out a sharp kick to his hip.

He leaned into my blow, softening it, and moved to trap my shin with his elbow. Thankfully, I managed to lower my leg in time. My opponent used his downward momentum to drop into a crouch, and immediately shot his leg out in a sweep.

Caught off guard, I fell to the ground. I rolled onto my front immediately, aiming to push myself up. Before I could complete my movements, a weight slammed down on my back, knocking my breath away, and my arm was pulled out from beneath me into a lock.

"Winner, ring one, Kuno Toru!" Juro announced. I winced slightly as Toru moved off me.

"You're not too bad kid," Toru said as I stood up and reached out to take his fingers. "You'll probably be better than me soon," he reassured, probably feeling like I did earlier about beating a child.

"Thank you," I said honestly, appreciating his words. My loss still burned, as I saw myself as less of a child than him, but I was grateful for his effort.

"No problem," he said lightly. "I'm pretty bad at Taijutsu anyways, so you'll probably get way better than me," he added.

'Ouch,' I thought to myself, not sure if he was telling the truth or was just giving himself a fallback in the case of a future loss. 'Beaten by a kid that apparently sucks at Taijutsu,' I thought sourly.

As we left the fields for the day, returning to the building, I put all of my effort into contemplating ways to improve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're leaving kudos, I'd really appreciate a comment! It can be hard to build up the motivation to write with no feedback. Thank you!
> 
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------
> 
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn into the world of Naruto from our world.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and 'aunt' of unknown relation.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First year academy student who started a year early, only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora’s genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.


	6. A Pebble Bounces off Pebbles and Stones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I live for reviews.

#  **A Pebble Bounces off Pebbles and Stones**

Over the following month, my nightly rests in the roots of the Mother Tree proved to be an incredible boon. I had gone from the undeniable last place in my class in terms of chakra capacity, to generally outperforming a quarter of the class. With my above-average chakra control in play, I ended up in the middle of the pack in most of the class' chakra exercises.

With this regimen established, I had managed to account for my inferiority in regards to chakra reserves. Addressing my inferior abilities in Taijutsu, on the other hand, had required a very different approach. Research and deliberation weren't all that useful when it came to close combat, so I had thrown myself into the action.

* * *

"Katsuo, go low! Sho, take his right!" shouted Hisoka, directing the two boys. Katsuo dove for my legs, while Sho prevented me from capitalizing on his compromised position without getting a face full of his shoe.

As I dodged to the left, I hastily ducked to avoid Hisoka's kick to my head. Katsuo immediately took advantage, spinning on his hands and shooting a low kick at my torso. I grunted at the impact, but wrapped my arms around his leg and tried to jump back while lowered in a crouch.

Katsuo was pulled back, knocking Sho off his feet, but Hisoka's fist prevented me from standing all the way up. I tossed Katsuo's leg in the air, sending him sprawling on his shoulders, and arced my leg out in a sweep forcing Hisoka back. I broke off, allowing the two boys to stand up shakily and get back into their stances.

After our first day of Taijutsu spars, I had met up with the trio of second-year students at the tea shop as usual. Instead of continuing with chakra exercises, I had requested that we head to a training field and spar. None of the three had been enough to challenge me, so we had started fighting three-on one. For the first week or so, their lack of coordination allowed me to win quite often. As their synchronization grew though, I found myself losing constantly for the next three weeks.

After a month of beat downs, my greater dedication to training had finally started to pay off, and I was able to land a draw in most matches, with the occasional win scattered throughout.

"I think we're good for today," I spoke through pants. The three immediately sighed in relief, and Sho flopped to the ground.

"It's so not cool," he said petulantly to the sky before raising his head to look at me. "How do you keep getting good so fast?" he shouted in question. I gave him the same answer as always.

"I train a lot, Sho," I explained for the hundredth time.

It wasn't like Sho had any aversion from training, he just never did it of his own initiative. He trained at the academy, when his father told him to, and when we all trained together, but that was it. The fact that he could keep up with the other two was just a testament to his talent.

"I know," Sho whined, "but it's still not cool," he insisted. "Don't you ever get bored?" he asked.

"Nope," I answered simply, and it was the truth. I honestly just didn't have anything else to do. There were no smartphones or video games in this world yet, fictional books weren't much more interesting than history or chakra theory, and becoming increasingly superhuman by the day was just addicting. Training had started as a desperate, fear-induced scramble, but interacting with more people had helped improve my mental health to a degree that I could have never expected. I had grown far more relaxed since starting the academy, and now I trained because it was what I wanted to do, rather than what I felt I had to do.

"You're really weird," Sho surmised. I laughed because the kid didn't know how right he was.

"Sho!" Hisoka exclaimed. "That's not nice!" she scolded.

"What, it's true!" Sho insisted. I shook my head at the budding argument and left the two to their devices. Meanwhile, Katsuo had moved off to the side and had started on katas.

Katsuo, like Maki from my class, was another one of those people I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for. He tried hard, worked a lot, and was quite intelligent for his age. Unfortunately, he didn't have the absurd level of advancement that Kakashi, Itachi, and Orochimaru likely had, and he also didn't have the extra advantages that I had. As a result, he was someone that was constantly told he was exceptional, but only because he worked for it. To see others work less and be at his level, or work presumably as much and drastically exceed him must have stung a lot.

I did my best to banish my negative thoughts and approached him.

"Hey Katsuo," I greeted. He simply nodded in return, continuing to move through his stances. "Everything good?" I asked.

Katsuo turned to give me a look that said "really?" I hid a wince. I thought for a moment about the best way to approach the topic. I hadn't known the boy for more than a few weeks, but I didn't want to lose the few friends I had managed to make. Lasting friendships and trustworthy allies were incredibly hard to come by.

"Look, dude," I started, deciding on an approach. "I'm just really good at Taijutsu, it's my talent," I explained. "Like, remember when we were doing the chakra exercises last month?" I asked. Katsuo looked at me for a second as I said that, and I knew I had his attention.

"You were the best at those! So much better than the rest of us, and I was the worst!" I exclaimed, latching onto his interest as much as possible. My plan had been possibly the most cliche solution, but I wasn't exactly skilled in social maneuvering so I worked with what I had.

Luckily, my target was a six-year-old, and there were limits to how far chakra-augmented maturity could go.

Katsuo sighed and stopped his practice, dropping into a seated position on the ground. I joined him immediately.

"I might end up better at Taijutsu than you, but you'll probably be way better at Ninjutsu!" I explained.

Katsuo seemed to chew on that, so I gave him silence to think. After a minute or so, he turned to me and spoke.

"You really think that?" he asked in a quiet voice. I smiled and nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! I bet you could be a great Ninjutsu specialist!" I insisted. I wasn't lying either, Katsuo had rather spectacular chakra reserves.

My words seemed to cheer the boy up, and I heaved a large internal sigh of relief. Another part of me, one that I had been listening to less recently, wasn't so happy. After all, how valuable were these actions in the long run?

'Is soothing children's insecurities really how I plan on leading this world to peace?'

I didn't like that line of inquiry. I didn't really have an answer for it either.

* * *

As the next week passed by, the flow of day-to-day life let me forget my self-doubt. The following Tuesday, I returned home from the training grounds thinking heavily on that day's lessons instead of my own ambitions.

Today we had started practicing tree walking. I was happy to find that this was one of the chakra exercises that was made easier by a lower body weight. As a result, I was towards the top of the class for the first time in an activity that didn't involve academics. None of this was what I dwelled on though.

Tree walking had once again brought the fictional works of my past life to my mind's forefront.

So much of this world just didn't match up. Shukaku and the Kyūbi were the only tailed beasts mentioned anywhere in history texts. The former was spoken of as a legendary demon that guarded Sunagakure, and the latter was feared as a force of nature that brought about absolute destruction. Strangely though, it was never even hinted that they were related creatures. The moniker 'tailed beast' was also never once used.

Stranger still was the fact that Kaguya and the Sage were actually common knowledge. They were a fairy tale commonly told to children.

"The Sage of Six Paths and the Moon Sage had come together to imprison the Rabbit Devil Kaguya on the moon. Her eternal servant, the demon Zetsu, prowled the shadows at night doing her bidding, catching children who strayed too far from their parents to sacrifice to the goddess, hoping to build her power so that she could escape."

It was a fairly gruesome tale for young children, but truthfully not any worse than the fairy tales of my old world. I had likely been more terrified than any other child when I first heard the tale; Akari had been incredibly confused by my reaction when she read it to me.

There were a number of other small differences to round things off. To name a few: Madara Uchiha had apparently died helping Hashirama Senju defend Konoha from one of the Kyūbi's appearances; Hashirama Senju was apparently still alive, just with irreparably damaged chakra coils from the same battle; and the Kamizuru clan was an extremely highly regarded force, one held in far greater esteem than Konoha's Aburame clan.

The problem though was that pretty much all of the inconsistencies I had encountered could also be a result of propaganda, or a result of events not having occurred yet. As far as I knew, the series could have been completely accurate and had just offered information an academy student would never be able to access.

The slightest chance of my knowledge being accurate was far too valuable to disregard. I knew that my memories would likely fade with time, so I had to take the risk and keep a record. I spent the night writing everything I could remember in one of my academy notebooks. I just had to hope no one found an academy student's belongings interesting enough to search through.

* * *

"Thank you guys so much!" I said honestly as the three genin handed me a stack of books.

"No problem, gramps," Sora replied, ruffling my hair.

"We certainly don't have any use for them, Kazuo," added Saki as I tried to fight off Sora's hand.

Unfortunately, the young shinobi had improved leaps and bounds through his experience on the field, making my struggles pointless. I wasn't fighting all that hard either. The past month of C-ranks had rapidly wiped away many of Sora's childish tendencies. I didn't know what all he had seen, but I was happy enough to see his lighthearted side today.

"Yeah, I'd rather forget about them to be honest," Kou chimed in, "the academy was so boring," he explained. The three had given me their notes from the academy, and I couldn't wait to go over them.

"I know," I told Kou knowingly. I had already learned nearly all of the mathematics, and sciences the academy focused on. In physics in chemistry, I was potentially more advanced than even the teachers. History and chakra theory were the other two 'academic' subjects of focus, but my own research had taken me far beyond the scope of the class. As a result, I used the class time for chakra control exercises, but those I could conduct seated at my desk were rapidly losing effectiveness.

"I'm gonna use these to get out faster," I revealed. "If I can finish off all the fourth year material before the end of the semester, Juro-sensei has to let me move up," I explained. Kou gave me a sympathetic nod.

"You'll have to be really good. For some reason they try to stop you as much as possible," he explained, having tried several times to advance out of the academy sooner.

Sora, though, had a slightly pained look on his face. He may have been the youngest on the team, but due to his upbringing, he very well understood why instructors and administrators might want to keep young children away from the field. I found it odd that he had matured to a far greater degree in the past month when compared to his teammates, but he refused to talk about certain things, and I didn't want to strain our relationship by prying too far.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked. He knew that I hadn't managed to make any friends in my class; jealousy and rivalries simply didn't allow for friendships to form. Further, the fact that I regularly connected with my friends from the lower year probably soothed his worry; he had gained some faith in my ability to avoid becoming isolated when not forced into social interaction. As such, he wasn't nearly as insistent as he might have been.

I gave him a pointed look.

"All of my classmates hate me, I already know everything we're doing in class, the only things that are really useful are the training fields and spars, and I'll have even better resources and sparring partners as a genin," I summarized. Sora sighed in resignation and shook his head. Even though he understood, he didn't like it.

We had been training together almost daily since he was seven and I was two, and had formed a close bond. I'd argue that I was closer to him than I was to anyone else, and he was closer to me than he was to anyone apart from his mother. In many ways, he viewed me as a younger brother.

"You're a pain in the ass," he said without any malice. He still drew a sharp look from Saki.

"Well I think it's rather admirable that you're working so hard at such a young age," she complimented. I had to resist laughing fondly at her defensiveness.

"Thank you, Saki," I said honestly. The girl was far too fond of me. Had I been the same age mentally as I was physically, I would have probably been spoiled by her inability to allow a negative comment in my direction. Given that I was far less impressionable, her attitude was just endearing.

I spent the remainder of the evening alongside Team Kayo. I didn't get to see them nearly as often after they had started taking C-ranks, so I enjoyed the time that I had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If you're leaving kudos, I'd really appreciate a quick comment or review! It can be hard to build up the motivation to keep writing without feedback. Thanks!  
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------
> 
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn into the world of Naruto from our world.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and 'aunt' of unknown relation.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First year academy student who started a year early, only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.
> 
> Arai Juro: Teacher for Kazuo's third year academy class.


	7. Pebbles and Stones Roll Down a Mountain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I received some fantastic feedback on Spacebattles from the user Thrascias! I've edited the first six chapters in accordance. There are some small changes to the plot, but mostly they were style/grammar related. I added a summary of the plot changes at the end if you don't want to go back and read!

#  **Pebbles and Stones Roll Down a Mountain**

Another two months passed by in the blink of an eye, as my repertoire of skills rapidly advanced. My daily spars with Sho, Hisoka, and Katsuo, or the 'tea house trio' as I'd taken to calling them in my head, had allowed me to quickly rise to the higher end of my class' Taijutsu rankings. Additionally, my nightly meditations and the class-hours I spent on chakra control exercises had pushed me to the front of the pack in another one of the class subjects. As things stood my worst subject was Bukijutsu, where I was only slightly above average.

I had started focusing more and more on building up the skills required to advance to genin. Sora's team had been incredibly valuable in this regard; their notebooks had allowed me to form a list of goals, and on their off days they were generally willing to give me a few pointers as they trained.

* * *

"So explain it to me again, what you're doing," Kou requested. I stood before him, drenched but mostly unbothered by the fact.

"I'm basically trying to do the same thing as when I tree walk, just with more chakra," I explained, prompting Kou to shake his head.

"Nah, man, you can't do it like that," he responded. "So when you're tree walking, you feel like you're grabbing on to the tree, right?" he asked. I gave him an affirmative nod. "Alright so," Kou continued, "you can't really do the same thing with water walking. You gotta, like, pull it all together and make it," he trailed off, pausing in search of a way to explain himself. "Umm, sticky? Bouncy maybe? I 'unno, but it just feels different," he finished.

I chuckled at his explanation. Kou wasn't the best teacher, but Sora and Saki were both off being drilled by Kayo-sensei to please the teacher's sadistic needs. Kou was enthusiastic though, and I caught the general gist of what he was trying to say.

"Alright, I think I get it," I said, heading back over to the shore. Water walking was a chakra control exercise, like tree walking. From Kou's explanation, it sounded like I needed to reach out with my chakra and increase the water pressure beneath my feet. My previous approach had been essentially just an extension of tree-walking, but spread out wider. I was latching onto a broad surface of water in order to create more surface area for buoyancy, but Kou's explanation indicated that I needed to work in a different direction.

I placed my foot on the water and got to work. After a few minutes of testing out different approaches, I understood what Kou meant. It was impossible to latch on to the water effectively with one's chakra, at least without mastering nature transformation. Instead, by forming a bubble around the water and pulling it towards my foot, it took on a jelly-like consistency and propped up my leg.

I tried standing up. I succeeded in staying upright for a few seconds, but the water rapidly lost form and I plunged right back into the pool.

"Yeah that's it, I think you got it that time," Kou praised.

After several dozen more attempts, I finally managed to stay up on the water indefinitely.

"I can't believe you figured it out in a day," Kou said disbelievingly. I smiled up at him proudly.

"My chakra control is really good," I boasted. Kou hummed in agreement, having seen proof already.

"How long have you been practicing?" he asked. "I don't think I even knew what chakra control was when I was four," he explained. I thought back.

"My mom got me started when I was a little older than one," I replied. The memory set off a pang of grief, breaking my concentration. I immediately fell into the water.

Kou fished me out, looking at me apologetically. He had likely guessed that speaking of my mother brought up certain memories. He knew about my parents' fate, as it wasn't exactly a secret, but he couldn't really sympathize; as a result, he just ended up feeling sorry for me .

"No wonder they call you a prodigy," Kou remarked, ignoring what had just happened. I smiled at him, grateful for his tactfulness even if I didn't like his words.

"I just work for it," I said neutrally. I had become slightly more comfortable with the praise I received in recent months. It was nice to receive some recognition for my efforts, but I felt like a sixteen-year-old receiving praise for feats a below-average twelve year old could accomplish. It wasn't exactly rational, since physically I was still four, but emotion was never meant to be rational.

"You suck at taking compliments," Kou said matter-of-factly, abandoning some of his prior tact. I laughed alongside him.

I spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to practice with the older genin.

* * *

"Kimoto Kazuo and Niwa Mitsuo, ring one!" Juro announced to the class, drawing the attention of most of the students. There was now only about a month remaining until the end of the semester, but Mitsuo had established himself as the undisputed number one in terms of Taijutsu. Another student, Sato Yoshito, had been the undisputed number two given that the only student he had lost against was Mitsuo.

That had all changed two days ago, when I beat Yoshito three times in a row, taking away the number two spot. Today I would make my bid for first place. We took our places in the ring.

"Start!" Juro shouted.

I immediately blitzed the older boy. I shot forward in a burst of chakra-enhanced speed, and using my small stature I stepped right into his guard and aimed a punch at his stomach.

He deftly parried it to the side, and launched an elbow at my head. I flowed under it, stepping behind him and spinning around with a side-kick aimed at his waist.

He spun with me, catching my leg in a steady grip, and used it to throw me at the edge of the ring. I latched onto the ground by channeling chakra through my hands and feet, and skidded to a halt right before the edge.

I shot forward again, this time building up momentum to throw a spinning ax-kick directly at his left shoulder. Not expecting the bold move, he was forced to block the powerful blow with his forearms, and winced slightly in pain.

Unfortunately he had a quick counter. He leaned back with my blow, and used the momentum to launch a high kick at my back. I tried to shift to the side to avoid the blow, but it landed on my shoulder, sending me spinning.

I spread out my arms and legs to stop the spin, landing on the ground, but Mitsuo took full advantage of the opening and brought his heel down on the back of my head.

My face hit the dirt in a daze, and by the time my bearings returned Mitsuo had me in a lock.

"Winner, ring one, Niwa Mitsuo!" Juro announced. Mitsuo leaped off immediately and helped me up while forming the sign of reconciliation.

"You gave me a better fight than anyone but Yoshito," Mitsuo praised. I gave him a polite nod, but my head was still going over the previous match. Juro would surely pair the two of us together again today. After a few minutes, I had formed an idea.

"Kimoto Kazuo and Niwa Mitsuo, ring one!" Juro announced again after a few matches. It was inevitable, since pairing us up with anyone else wouldn't really be helpful.

"Start!"

This time I didn't approach, instead taking a defensive stance. Mitsuo's forte seemed to be counterattacking, so I planned on not giving him the chance.

Not wanting to let the spar go on for too long, Mitsuo took the initiative. He didn't shoot forward like I had, instead, he advanced slowly and deliberately, watching me every step of the way.

There were a couple openings in his guard, but the last time I had tried to take advantage he had been fully prepared. Instead, I channeled far more chakra than normal into my body, and jumped with a straight punch right at his perfectly guarded face.

The boy was left gobsmacked, not expecting someone to do something so stupid. For that reason, it worked. His arms came up instinctively, blocking my punch, but the sheer amount of force I had committed still jarred his head and left him dazed. I didn't offer him a moment to recover, swinging my other hand in an arc to wrap around his head, and shooting my knee forward into his unguarded chest.

The blow to his solar-plexus stopped his breath, and my weight on his head brought him far enough off-balance to bring him to the ground. We both landed harshly, but I was essentially seated on his chest. The impact knocked away his breath again, and I tapped my fist against his neck. Had it been an actual blow, it would have crushed his windpipe and killed him.

"Winner, ring one, Kimoto Kazuo!" Juro announced. A hush had fallen over the class. Mitsuo had yet to lose a single spar this year, and he had just been defeated by a boy four years his junior. I helped Mitsuo to his feet. He gave me an overjoyed grin.

"Damn! You fight dirty kid, I never expected that!" he said excitedly. "The next one's mine though," he added, and his grin turned slightly predatory.

"Not a chance," I said resolutely. Winning the next spar would cement my position at the top of the class.

'Like hell the next one's yours,' I said in my head, already coming up with another trick. I would fight with everything in my tank and more.

About half an hour later, for the third and final time today, Juro announced our names again.

Mitsuo and I stared at one another across the ring, fire burning in our eyes. We took our stances.

"Start!" came the teachers shout.

Neither of us waited; we both shot forward. Mitsuo came at me with an elbow ready for my forehead, expecting me to step into his guard.

I anticipated his attack, and dropped to the ground in a slide. My small stature let me pass between his legs, just barely brushing his pants with my shoulders. I grabbed the ground and leaped at his back. He reacted immediately, spinning to catch any blow I offered.

I flashed through hand-signs, ending with the tiger. His eyes widened comically, and he immediately ducked for cover.

I flipped in the air and brought an ax-kick down on his head. His face mimicked mine from the first spar, hitting the dirt with a thump. I landed on his back and wrapped my legs around his shoulders, locking my feet in his armpits, while snaking my arm around his throat.

I cranked and his face turned pink.

"Winner, ring one, Kimoto Kazuo!" Juro announced.

A few cheers came from the onlooking students, but the majority stayed silent in either shock or jealousy.

"Dude, not cool," Mitsuo groaned as I got off him. "I totally thought you were gonna roast me!" he exclaimed. I grinned proudly.

Ninjutsu were explicitly disallowed in academy Taijutsu spars; however, there had been several cases of students getting too hot-blooded and ignoring the rules. I probably wasn't the first to use the tactic, and certainly wouldn't be the last, but when it was used infrequently enough misdirection worked wonders.

"Ha!" I exclaimed. "I was counting on it," I said. He sighed before groaning in disappointment.

"Ugh I totally should have known," he complained. I didn't blame him; it was a cheap trick. The only issue was that most of us didn't have enough experience to see such things coming.

"At least no one can catch you with it again," I offered. He nodded, but his spirits would probably stay down for a while longer.

"I guess," he mumbled.

* * *

"Juro-sensei, do you have a moment?" I asked after the end of class. He looked up at me from his stack of papers.

"Certainly, how can I help you Kazuo?" he asked. I steeled myself and waited for the last student to trickle out of the room.

"I was hoping to talk to you about advancing to the graduating class next semester," I answered. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Now why would you propose something like that?" he questioned. He probably had a good idea of what I would say, but wanted to ensure I was serious about my request. Fortunately, I had spent several days preparing for this conversation.

"Well," I started. "I don't believe staying in this class much longer will be good for my development," I explained. He gestured for me to continue. "You know I'm well ahead of the class in academics, but I've actually finished the syllabus for even the graduating class. In terms of ninjutsu, I can quite easily perform the basic three, and I've completed even the last of the academy chakra control exercises," I continued, pausing for a breath. Juro cut in here.

"You can water walk?" he asked. I nodded in affirmation and he gave me an impressed look.

"Yes, I managed to mostly master it yesterday when working with miss Tada Kayo's genin team," I explained. That earned me a sharper look. Jōnin did not take teams easily, and it was unheard of for an academy student to be allowed to train with them. I was being a bit misleading, since Kayo-sensei never really trained me, but what Juro didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Continuing, I have now reached the top of the class in Taijutsu, and at the rate with which I'm improving it will soon be stifling to not have any more skilled sparring partners. The only field where I don't excel is Bukijutsu, but the academy is barely necessary for its practice," I finished.

Juro burst out laughing.

I scowled.

"Sorry, sorry," he waved off. "Kazuo, you're way too serious, you know that?" he asked rhetorically. He burst into a new set of laughs.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed, calming down. "But your voice and your words," he paused, "they just don't match," he finished off with a set of chuckles. I groaned in dismay.

"I can't help being four," I told him plainly.

"I'm well aware, Kazuo," he replied. He then sobered up. "Unfortunately, I cannot in good conscience allow a four-year-old into the graduating class," he said. My temper flared slightly, and I opened my mouth to argue. He held up a hand.

"Allow me to finish," he said. I bit back my reply. "I would ordinarily never entertain the notion, but most of what you said is right. Spending the next semester in this class just won't help you, but being tossed into the Shinobi forces so quickly also won't help you," he explained. He seemed like he had more to say so I held back my arguments.

"Almost all students spend at least two years with the same class. They make friends, develop relationships, and gather allies in their classes. Once they graduate, they have the beginnings of a network to rely on and work with. I don't know what you do outside of class, but from what I've seen you have none of that," he surmised. I grit my teeth. I couldn't blame the man, as he brought up a very good point. I might have claimed to work with a genin team, but I could easily be lying. It didn't help that I actually was exaggerating things.

"I will offer you a compromise," he continued. I perked up at that. "If you can get a Jōnin, or even a Tokūbetsu Jōnin to vouch for you before the end of the semester, I'll allow you to move up," he explained.

I narrowed my eyes at the man. Ordinarily it would have been an impossible challenge. The village boasted a population of over a hundred thousand, the vast majority of which were shinobi. Out of those, only around fifteen hundred were Tokūbetsu Jōnin, and only around five hundred were Jōnin. To make matters worse, the vast majority of those elite shinobi were out of the village due to the war.

An orphan academy student simply couldn't be expected to have such connections, but I wasn't an ordinary orphan. When I found out just how elite Jōnin actually were, I understood why important figures like Shibuki and Suien were so closely connected to my family. To be born from two Jōnin was the same as being born into the top fraction of the 'one-percent.' Knowing my advantages, I accepted my teacher's terms.

"Alright, I'll do it," I accepted after thinking over things for a few minutes. He seemed slightly surprised at my acquiescence. He may have even been willing to make some concessions if I had argued, but I had a plan of action and a set of resources that might not work if he changed the challenge.

"Very well," Juro said. "Make sure to get the endorsement before the semester exams. I can't move you up if you don't sit the upper class' exams," he explained.

"Got it," I replied. "Thank you Juro-sensei," I offered.

"It's no problem, Kazuo," he responded.

I quickly left the room. After all, my plan was time-sensitive.

* * *

My first stop was Training Ground 86: the training ground assigned to Team Kayo.

"Kayo-sensei!" I shouted as I arrived, making a beeline for the woman. All four of the occupants watched me in shock. I was a frequent visitor to the training grounds, but I normally waited off to the side, training on my own until someone else was free. I had never purposefully interrupted their training.

"What's up, brat?" she asked curiously.

"I need to ask a favor," I explained before bowing. "I'm really sorry for interrupting," I apologized. She snorted and waved me off.

"Don't worry about it," she said. I knew she wouldn't care, otherwise I would have never done it. "So what do you need?" she asked.

I offered just a summary of my conversation with Juro.

"Damn," she said with a whistle when I finished. "I knew you were getting good, but not that good. You're a little freak aren't you?" she questioned rhetorically. If I hadn't known her I would have been offended, but I knew she held no malice in her words.

"So can you help?" I asked. The fearsome kunoichi sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry little man," she said. "I know what the guy wants to do," she revealed. "The only way you're going to get moved up is if there's someone waiting for you with an apprenticeship. I've already got these three idiots, I can't take one more," she explained, ignoring Sora's shout of indignation.

I nodded in understanding, having expected something along those lines. She had been my first choice, but only because I had a number of reservations regarding my second.

"It's no problem, Kayo-sensei," I responded, accepting her rejection gracefully. "I've gotta run now though, I have a backup plan," I explained. The woman gave me a laugh.

"Of course you do," she said. "Say hi to the old swordfish for me!" she called as I left.

* * *

My backup plan took me to the main administrative offices of the Land of Waterfalls' armed forces. I walked through the corridors, greeting a few familiar faces, until I reached a large office.

"Hi miss Yoshie," I greeted the pretty young woman who sat at the front desk. Her hair was tied back, forming a dark-grey ponytail, and her small eyes complemented her delicate features perfectly. She resembled Sora in many ways: just more feminine and with dark-grey hair instead of Sora's raven-black.

"Hi Kazuo!" she greeted happily. "I never see you here, what brings you around?" she asked.

"I was wondering if the General was in," I informed. She chuckled slightly.

"Don't be so formal, you'll make him sad," she said. She wheeled over to the door by her desk, revealing why she was stuck in an administrative position. Both of her legs were missing.

"Uncle," she called, cracking open the door. "You've got a visitor I think you'll be happy to see," she explained in a sing-song voice.

"Is that so?" a gruff voice asked from in the room. "Well, what're you waiting for girl! Let him in," he instructed.

I entered the room and watched as an exhausted-looking man sifted through papers. He had a large mane of spiky dark-grey hair, matching the girl at the front desk, and beady brown eyes that gave him a stern visage. His chin was adorned with a goatee, and a bandana covered his forehead. His tired eyes brightened as they saw me.

"Little Kimoto!" he said happily. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"Hi Uncle Suien," I greeted, "I've been doing really well," I informed him. "I'm guessing you've been really busy?" I remarked, looking around the cluttered room.

This was Sora's father, one of the top five generals in the Land of Waterfalls. Our military had an intricate hierarchy, which was slightly different from the five major nation-states on our continent. At the top of the nation-state sat the Daimyō, who I had learned was none other than Shibuki. In the lands which held the Five Great Villages, the Daimyō would command his own force of samurai, but in the Land of Waterfalls the Daimyō instead directly presided over the shinobi village.

Directly below Shibuki was the Council of Village Elders: a group of widely respected and beloved retired shinobi, and the Jōnin Commander: a man who's advanced age would likely see him move to the Council within the next few years. The Jōnin Commander, sometimes called the Marshal, directly commanded the village's five Army Generals. Suien was one of these Army Generals. The Army Generals then commanded around ten Divisional Generals, who in turn commanded around ten Brigade Generals.

My parents had met as Brigade Generals when they had both been assigned to Suien's Division. Suien's division had led the charge against the 'Great Beast' on the night of the attack, and he had been the only one to survive. Rather than granting him a new Division, Suien had been moved up to fill the rank of an Army General who had died.

As such, I was the only child of the only Division Suien had ever commanded. To say he was extremely fond of me would be an understatement. He doted on me almost as much as his own son, and that meant a lot given the sheer number of Hana's complaints regarding how he spoiled their child.

Unfortunately, given that we were in the middle of a war, he was also extremely busy. That meant I felt extremely guilty over the prospect of saddling him with additional work, but not as much as I hated the prospect of spending an extra year in the academy.

"I'm really sorry about this, uncle, but I was hoping you could do me a favor," I asked. Naturally, he turned to look at me indulgently.

"Anything, Kazuo," he replied.

'That's exactly why I don't like asking you things,' I mentally whined.

I explained Juro's compromise to the man. As I finished, the tiredness had once again entered his eyes. He laughed lightly.

"In some ways, you're nothing like your parents, y'know?" he said wistfully. I stood in silence for a while as he reminisced.

"Your father was an idiot," he said plainly. "He was a great tactician, and great at thinking on the field, but still an idiot," he said with a laugh. "Your mother, on the other hand, was only an idiot when it came to him," he continued. "She was cool-headed as hell most of the time, but the second he came around her brain cells all died."

I smiled at the scene he described. From what I remembered, I could very clearly see where he was coming from.

"You, on the other hand," he said, turning to face me. "You're way too damn smart," he said with a sigh. "You have no idea how badly I want to send you home. Tell you to go back to Akari, sit you down with a bunch of toys, and keep you like that for years," he admitted. He drew off into a pause again, and I refrained from cutting in.

"That's the part of me that's Koji and Sayuri's friend," he added with a smile, then suddenly his face hardened. "There's another part of me though. The part of me that commands thousands of shinobi and willingly sends them to their death for the safety of the Land of Waterfalls," he explained harshly, looking me right in the eye.

"That part of me wants to shove you right into the forces. Build you up into the next Kakuzu through blood, pain, and suffering, and hand you to Shibuki to make you the next leader of this military," he growled, self-loathing clearly visible in his eyes. "The sad thing is that you'd probably be happy about it, wouldn't you?" he asked rhetorically. It pained me that he was right.

"Your teacher's a smart guy," he said, calming down, "but there's a reason he's just a Chūnin, if he had looked into who your parents are he probably would have realized how easy this would be for you," he remarked. I had come to essentially the same conclusion.

"I'll get you your endorsement," he acquiesced, and I breathed a sigh of relief; halfway through his speech I had gotten doubtful. "But you won't be putting a foot outside this village until I think you're ready, got it?" he continued. I nodded immediately.

"Yes sir!" I shouted in affirmative, saluting. A small smile returned to Suien's face.

"Yeah, stay like that, kid," he said with a laugh. "I'm not joking though," he said a little more seriously." I didn't joke around when I answered this time.

"I understand uncle, I just can't bear to be in the academy any longer. It's a waste of my time and we all know it," I explained, reiterating what we both already knew.

"Yeah, I know," he admitted grudgingly, "but I don't have to like it," he finished. "Now get out of my office, you pissed me off," he dismissed, still shaking his head fondly. I dashed forward and gave him a small hug before rushing out.

"Alright, bye Uncle! And thank you!" I shouted as I closed the door.

"Any time kid," he responded, voice muffled through the door. I cracked it open again.

"By the way, Kayo-sensei says hi!" I shouted. Suien just gave a small laugh in response, so I closed the door for the last time.

"Thanks, Yoshie," I offered to the girl at the desk as I walked out. She smiled happily at me.

"Certainly, Kazuo," she answered. "Come around more often, okay?" she asked.

"I'll try," I offered with a nod, before walking off to the Lake of Heroes.

There was no better way to celebrate than with a swim.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If you're leaving a favorite or follow, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!  
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------
> 
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn into the world of Naruto from our world.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and 'aunt' of unknown relation.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First year academy student who started a year early, only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.
> 
> Arai Juro: Teacher for Kazuo's third year academy class.
> 
> Iwamoto Maki: the second youngest student in Kazuo's first academy class.
> 
> Kuno Toru: a student in Kazuo's academy class.  
> __________________________________________________________________________
> 
> Summary of changes below, don't scroll down if you want to re-read instead!
> 
> spoiler
> 
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> 
> #
> 
> #
> 
> #
> 
> #
> 
> #
> 
> spoiler
> 
> Kazuo no longer died in a car crash in his past life, he died as a result of a war started by greedy oligarchs. This, combined with the cause of the death of his new parents, fanned his hatred towards 'cruel' and 'unjust' systems, motivating him to not be a background character in this life, and setting him on the path of a revolutionary.


	8. Pebbles and Stones Loosen Rocks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've re-structured the first seven chapters of the fic. They used to be nine chapters, but scenes have been combined to make seven. Given that my short, 1~2 thousand word chapters weren't all that well-received, I'll be going with slightly longer 3~4 thousand word chapters from now on, and I wanted the rest of the fic to match. Thanks!
> 
> As always, I live for reviews.

#  **Pebbles and Stones Loosen Rocks**

"I'm not sure how you managed to do it," Juro sighed. Today was the first day of our semester evaluations, and he had pulled me to the side just before the start of class. "You'll be sitting the written exams in room four-fourteen," he explained, before shaking his head and crouching down to pat my shoulder.

"Look Kazuo," he continued. "I know I didn't teach you for very long, or teach you all that much, to be honest," he said with a slight smile. "But I'm glad to have had you in my class. Please be careful out there, and feel free to come to me if you ever find yourself in a difficult situation," he finished supportively. I smiled up at him gratefully.

He wasn't the most memorable personality, generally coming off as a run-of-the-mill hardass, but in some moments he would show how much he really cared.

"Thank you, Juro-sensei," I replied in honest gratitude.

After that, it was time for me to depart.

* * *

"Alright class! If you haven't noticed, there's a few new faces here with us today!" spoke the loud, somewhat unkempt man at the front of the class. "You'll also probably notice that some faces are missing!" he continued in his overbearing tone.

This man was everything that Juro wasn't. While Juro was disciplined, even-tempered, and held-together, this man seemed uncouth, brash, and unrestrained.

"That's because they got lazy!" he continued, making me wonder if he had an inside-voice. "They thought that because they got to the top of the pack, they could sit back and relax," he carried on. "Well guess what? They're gone now!" he shouted, before looking at each of the students before him in the eye.

"All of you made it to the last stretch, and you might be 'thinking things are gonna be easier now,'" he started again, taking on a high-pitched voice towards the end. Presumably, he was trying to mock us. I idly considered that he might be drunk.

"Well I'm here to tell you there's not a damn chance!" he roared. "If any one of you tries to take it easy for even a second, you'll be lucky to get even a Chūnin team instructor after you graduate! Am I understood?" came his shout.

"Yes! Masaru-sensei!" shouted the class in return. Most of the students here were used to this seemingly deranged teacher.

Iwata Masaru was a loud man in every way. His uniform just barely met regulation; he was covered from head-to-toe in a forest-camouflage jumpsuit, which might have helped him blend in on the field, but made him stand out significantly in a crowd. He wore massive, navy blue boots and gloves, once again meeting the letter of regulation but certainly not the spirit. His hair was a wide mess of black spikes, dyed with streaks of grey and forest-green. The only 'normal' portion of his outfit was his Chūnin vest, but alongside the rest of him it also managed to stand out.

I had to hold back a laugh at the thought of a supervisor confronting the man. In all likelihood, Masaru would blend into the forest just as well as any other Chūnin, leaving no real recourse for attempting to force him to change. One could likely attempt to escalate the matter to a Jōnin, but that would definitely be a waste of time and energy.

"Alright then," Masaru said, satisfied with the class' response. "To the fields!" he directed, kicking open the door and strolling out.

I had passed the semester exams with relative ease. My academic knowledge and chakra control were well beyond even some genin, and the rest of my skill set was above average at worst.

"We've got a special brat with us in this class!" Masaru announced once we got to the fields, singling me out. "He's the tiniest kid to ever join this class," he continued, walking over to me leisurely, and squatting down to look me in the eye.

"I'm not so sure you belong here though," he said more sinisterly. I looked him right in the eye, unafraid. I was here on Suien's endorsement. A Chūnin academy instructor held no real sway in comparison. "How's about a little challenge, squirt?" he taunted rhetorically.

"Noboru!" he shouted suddenly, "You were last in Taijutsu last semester!" he continued, airing the student's failures to the class. Given the boy's lack of reaction, it wasn't unusual. "Beat the crap out of this kid and I'll let you swap a Taijutsu grade for full marks at the end of the semester," he informed. Noboru's eyes immediately perked up and he ran over to the ring. Masaru then looked back over to me.

"And you," he said. "If you lose, you get to run laps all day for the rest of the week," he finished with a grin. I narrowed my eyes, doing my best to look heavily motivated. What Masaru didn't know was that I would be ecstatic to get seven hours of uninterrupted physical training for a full week.

Noboru and I stood at opposite sides of the ring. He gave me a small smile.

"Sorry kid," he offered apologetically, "but I really want that free grade," he explained. I nodded amiably, but on the inside, I was a little irritated.

'Does he really think I would have made it to this class by being an easy opponent?' I questioned in my mind rhetorically.

"I'm sorry too," I said as I made the seal of confrontation, "but I really hate losing," I informed honestly. I really didn't care about the laps, I just didn't want to lose to an eight-year-old who was purportedly bad at Taijutsu, and wanted to make sure everyone knew I wasn't an easy win.

"Begin!" came Masaru's shout, and Noboru shot forward immediately. He thought I would be a pushover, given my age, and I decided to leave him with that impression for a few more fractions of a second.

He managed to avoid telegraphing any specific blow until the last moment, but just before he stepped to my guard his leading leg and trailing shoulder tensed.

As I anticipated, his right arm shot forward in a powerful straight, but I was able to sway to my left rather easily, dodging the blow. As I moved, I dropped my center of gravity and squared my shoulders. He had enough height on me that it wasn't too difficult for me to lower my neckline to his waist, so I sprung forward.

My right shoulder hit his right hip, and he folded easily, betrayed by his own momentum. With most of Noboru's weight on my shoulder, I heaved back with all of the strength in my tiny body, probably forming an immensely amusing image to any onlookers. At the top of my arc, I channeled more chakra into my legs, and jumped up into the air.

My back slammed into his waist, and his head came back up from under my legs to stare at me in horror as he realized what was about to happen. I shot my legs up and slammed my butt into his chest, bringing us both to the ground.

The impact stunned him completely, pushing all of the air from his lungs and leaving him lightheaded. I rocked forward into a seated position and tapped his neck, signaling an end to the spar.

"Winner, ring one, Kimoto Kazuo," announced Masaru, looking at me with great amusement and obvious approval. There were a few snickers in the crowd, and I couldn't help but feel a little bad about humiliating the kid.

'Don't be so cocky when your skills clearly need work,' I said in my mind.

In fairness, from what little I had seen the kid wasn't awful. In terms of speed and the forms I had seen he was a little worse than Mitsuo. Unfortunately for him, I was much better.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't good enough to win the next match.

* * *

"Winner, ring four, Murai Chiyoko!" Masaru called as I flew through the air.

Masaru hadn't played it safe, like Juro, letting me move up the rankings step by step. For my second match, he had pitted me against a kunoichi in the middle of the pack in terms of strength. The girl had taken the match far too seriously, fearing the risk of a similar humiliation, and had gone straight for the kill.

She had manipulated me into a hold that wasn't too hard to escape from, but had shocked me by spinning and tossing me out of the ring.

In the next match, I went up against someone a little less skilled, but still beyond my current capabilities. From what I saw of Noboru's two other opponents of the day, I wasn't amongst the bottom three of the class, but I didn't know where else to place myself in terms of Taijutsu.

* * *

"So is the fourth year class as bad as they say?" asked Mitsuo eagerly.

Five of us were seated outside Akari's teahouse, sweating heavily while sipping cold mugicha, a naturally caffeine-free tea made from Barley.

"Nah," I replied, "As long as you're not a slacker," I continued, kicking Sho lightly in the shin as a joke, "you'll be fine," I explained.

"Hey!" Sho shouted petulantly, but without any real sign that he felt offended. His comical pout changed to a smile as Hisoka giggled and Kou let out a small laugh.

"So what'd you do today?" Mitsuo asked, still curious.

"A lot of the same stuff as normal," I answered, taking a sip. "We started with Taijutsu, but after that it was all classroom stuff," I finished. Mitsuo's eyes lit up.

"Did'ja win?" he asked excitedly. I nodded proudly.

"My first match," I informed. "I lost the other two though," I continued, shifting to a frown.

After a few months, sparring with just Sho, Hisoka, and Kou had ceased to produce as drastic an improvement. Knowing Mitsuo's zeal for Taijutsu, I had asked him to join, and he had jelled with the group wonderfully. He benefitted greatly from sparring with the others two-on-one or three-on-one, and I had taken to sparring against two of the younger students while they worked with Mitsuo. I wasn't quite ready to take on all four at once, but I was getting there.

"Wow, they must be really good then," he said, thinking fondly about having stronger opponents. Mitsuo was a total battle maniac, and the idea of having so many strong sparring partners in the same class must have been a dream come true for him.

"Yeah, most of them are already stronger than some fresh genin," I said, not exaggerating. I was in the 'Jōnin-track' class, which consisted of students determined to have the highest likelihood of becoming Jōnin in the future. Generally speaking, not even a fifth actually made it that far, but the majority of academy classes wouldn't manage to produce even a single Jōnin. As a result, these students were far more advanced than most academy students. Most members of my class could have graduated with an 'easier' academy class the previous year, but the academy didn't like the idea of tossing promising youth into the world without doing the most to build them up. As a result, children in the Jōnin-track only graduated when they couldn't develop any further in the academy.

"That's awesome," Sho said admiringly. Over the past few months, I had grown at a slightly faster rate than the other child. As a result, we were essentially the same height, and he had mentally started to group me with the 'older kids' even though I was technically younger.

If only more children could treat me like Sho.

The five of us continued to make idle talk while seated on the patio of Akari's tea house. Rest was an important part of physical development, and spending rest time with friends made it far less boring.

* * *

The five following months passed by before I noticed. Everything had gone too smoothly for me to really register the passage of time. It helped that my daily routine involved constantly exhausting myself both physically and mentally. Akari had continued to try her best to get me to slow down, but I had started avoiding her lately. I would be graduating soon, and the pain I would cause her when entering the field just wasn't something I was ready to think about. As such, I simply threw myself even further into my training. With Hana and Sora both regularly out of the village, the number of people I interacted with personally dropped even further, giving me even more time.

The results of my efforts were, fortunately, extremely apparent. I had finally defeated the former class leader in Taijutsu with only a week to spare. In chakra exercises and academics, I had been at the front of the pack from the moment I entered. As such, Ninjutsu and Bukijutsu were the only subjects where I was simply 'above average.'

Leading the class in three of five subjects, thankfully, was enough to graduate as the 'Rookie of the Year' – a title that actually existed much to my surprise. In the long run, I knew it didn't mean that much; however, it meant a lot to my pride. I was extremely happy that no one from a group of actual seven, eight, and nine-year-olds had managed to keep up with me. My fifth birthday had passed two months ago, so, unfortunately, I didn't beat Kakashi (if he even achieved the same feat as his fictional self), but I was still relieved that I at least hadn't potentially been outdone by a five-year-old.

As I reminisced about the preceding months, Masaru finally walked into the room.

"Alright, brats!" Masaru yelled, quieting everyone down. "Looks like you all made it," he said, turning down his volume slightly and breaking out into a grin.

"I tried my damn hardest to break you down, to stop you from getting here," he started, "but every single one of you that's sitting hear managed to get past me," he continued, trailing off into a pause. "And for it, you have no idea how proud of you I am!" he bellowed, leaping up and slamming down heavily onto his desk.

There were several shocked stares from the class. Not because of his antics, we were all used to that, but because of his praise. Masaru never gave praise. He might have joked around, and never offered serious insult, but he never gave praise.

"You!" Masaru shouted, pointing at a class member, "You! You! You!" he continued, pointing randomly throughout the room. "You! You! You! You! You! All of you!" he shouted at the top of his lugs, a slightly manic look entering his eyes.

"All of you are gonna be awesome!" Masaru informed us, with nothing but complete honesty showing in his eyes. The guy had been an unlikeable asshole the entire time I had known him, but I had to give him props. He knew how to put on a performance to get students spirits up after breaking them down for almost half a year.

"Alright, that's enuff a' that," Masaru said, hopping nimbly off the desk. "Hideki will give you your team assignments, keep workin' your asses off and the lot of you will be fine," he finished, smoothing out his jumpsuit. "See ya around, genin!" he offered, walking out the door as an exasperated-looking Chūnin entered.

"I apologize for my colleague's," the newly identified Hideki started before pausing for a moment. "Exhuberance," he continued, finding the word. "I am Kuwahara Hideki, and I will be giving you your team assignments," he explained. "I will call your names, and name a training ground. You will have to report to the training ground by ten-hundred. Am I clear?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!" we echoed, having been frequently told that we needed to address superiors that weren't teachers quite differently.

"Very good," he said in acceptance. "Adachi Mako, training ground one-twenty-nine" he started, reading off his list. My anticipation grew as he approached 'I.'

Finally, after what felt like hours, my name came up.

"Kimoto Kazuo, training ground three," he spoke. I looked up in shock the lower-numbered training grounds were reserved for senior Shinobi. A number as low as three… A grin stretched out on my face. I didn't know who Suien had managed to wrangle into teaching me, but it looked like I was in for a good time.

"Thank you, mister Kuwahara," I said with a bow, before quickly leaving the room. I couldn't wait to meet my new team.

* * *

I arrived at the training ground with almost an hour to spare. I paced around restlessly, thinking about how to make a good impression. After a decent bit of deliberation, I decided to take out a book on chakra theory from my pack. It would show that I was dedicated to training, but smart enough to avoid tiring myself out in case I was going to be tested.

The hour passed by at a disgustingly slow pace, but after what felt like a century of agony I was finally broken from my reading by a shadow flickering into the field. I looked up in surprise. I knew that it was still far outside my level of ability to sense a Jōnin coming, but to experience it was always a shock.

As I took in who stood before me, though, my mouth fell open.

There, in the center of the field, flanked by two young Chūnin, was one of the most powerful shinobi in Takigakure, and one of our few shinobi who was actually known and respected around the world. He was the only shinobi from our village, that I knew of at least, to have an official moniker in his Bingo Book entry: the Swordfish of Waterfall.

He had gained his name during the Second Shinobi World War by first faking his own death, and falling into the water off the shore of the Land of Hot Water. He had waited for a few minutes until his target had discounted him as a potential threat due to the amount of time he had been underwater. Once his opponent was distracted, he had burst from the sea, and sliced through the abdomen of one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist.

"Sup, shitty brat," came a gruff voice from the imposing, incredibly accomplished man. He looked down at me with an amused glint in his eye and a wide, slightly frightening grin.

As far as I knew, the man should have had no time at all; especially not enough time to take on a genin. I should have known rather well, since I had a different name for him than what was written in some book.

I just called him Uncle Suien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If you're leaving a favorite or follow, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!
> 
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------  
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn into the world of Naruto from our world.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and 'aunt' of unknown relation.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first-year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First-year academy student who started a year early, the only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First-year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First-year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.
> 
> Arai Juro: Teacher for Kazuo's third-year academy class.
> 
> Iwamoto Maki: the second youngest student in Kazuo's first academy class.
> 
> Kuno Toru: a student in Kazuo's academy class.
> 
> Niwa Mitsuo: the former class leader in Taijutsu in Kazuo's third-year class.
> 
> Watanabe Yoshie: Suien's niece and secretary. A double amputee.
> 
> Iwata Masaru: Kazuo's final year's academy teacher.
> 
> Noboru: Kazuo's first sparring partner in his final year.
> 
> Murai Chiyoko: Kazuo's second sparring partner in his final year.
> 
> Kuwahara Hideki: A Takigakure Chūnin who handed out team assignments.


	9. Rocks Join the Tumble Down the Mountain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I live for reviews.
> 
> So there has been a **MAJOR** change. Kazuo's surname has been changed to Kimoto from Ito. I ordinarily would never do this, but definitely found it necessary in this case. Waki Paki's Thread Plague updated for the first time since I started writing this story, and I realized that I had unintentionally plagiarized the surname of his OC. This definitely wasn't intentional; I didn't mean for this to be a derivative work, so I had to go back and change it. I'm sorry if this causes any confusion, but I couldn't leave things the same. Akari's surname has also been changed, but that was only mentioned in a single scene so I don't think it's nearly as important.

#  **Rocks Join the Tumble Down the Mountain**

  


Thank you all for coming!" I shouted from the doorway as I waved off the night's guests.

This evening the whole Watanabe family had been in the village, so Akari had put together a celebration for my graduation from the academy. She hated the path I had chosen, but her love for me still outweighed any negative feelings. She also couldn't help herself from feeling just a little pride over my absurd achievement. As such, she had invited Suien, Sora, and Hana, along with the four friends I frequently brought over to her tea house.

It had been a pleasant affair, but it had also been bittersweet; tomorrow would be my first day of missions. D-ranks, of course, but it was the start of a career full of bloodshed. Inhibitions whispered in the back of my mind, but the dying embers of the flame that once burned in my heart managed to subdue them.

The occasional doubt had surfaced throughout my time in the academy, but as I had grown closer to graduation they had multiplied without end. I didn't know what to make of my dream anymore. Originally, when I had set myself the goal of bringing peace to the Shinobi world, I had been fueled by pain over my own loss and hatred towards the world around me. In the three years since, those feelings had dulled significantly, and the fire that had driven me at first had gradually died down, now only a spark compared to the inferno that had once dwelled inside.

On the other hand, the thought of giving up the goal I had spent so much effort working towards stung far too fiercely to consider. It may have been a perfect example of the sunk-cost fallacy, but my goal was no longer something I truly desired with all my heart, it was simply something I needed to have present. Without my goal, I had nothing to work towards.

Further, toning down my efforts would mean resigning myself to mediocrity, but fear of mediocrity enough wasn't enough to keep me motivated. The more I thought about my motives, the less sense they made, and the less I wanted to dwell on them. Desperate for something to shelter me from my thoughts, I turned to Akari in search of a distraction.

Akari was already staring at me with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Come, Kazuo," she instructed as she turned and walked towards the living room.

I followed reluctantly. I had been avoiding this conversation for years now, but I knew it had to come eventually. My aunt gestured for me to take a seat, before heading towards her room. I sat down awkwardly on the edge of a cushion while waiting for her to return.

A few minutes later, Akari returned holding a small binder with covers woven from straw. Sitting down next to me, she turned to the first page which showed a picture of two couples standing in front of a row of small houses.

"This was the day Takigakure was founded," she said fondly. I looked back at the picture in shock. The picture was in black and white, and the number of buildings was greatly reduced, but the street looked a lot like ours. She pointed to the woman standing furthest to the right and smiled in nostalgia.

"This was me, before childbirth and age took their toll," she said wistfully. She chuckled lightly and spoke again, "I was quite lovely, wasn't I?" she asked humorously.

"You're still lovely, aunt Akari," I replied, not missing a beat. I welcomed any levity in the tense atmosphere. She smiled at me and ruffled my hair.

"Thank you, Kazuo," she offered with a hint of mirth before pointing at the man standing at her side. "This was my husband, Suemitsu, more handsome than I was lovely," she continued. The nostalgia remained present in her tone, but I could hear her pain just below the surface.

"He was the third son of one of Lord Hiromoto's concubines," Akari explained. My eyes arched in surprise. Mōri Hiromoto, Shibuki's great-grandfather, wasn't exactly a well-respected figure, but his son, Mōri Motonari, certainly was. Motonari had led the unification of the Land of Waterfalls.

"He grew up far removed from the main family," Akari continued to explain, and I listened raptly as Akari never liked to speak about family, "Suemitsu turned to the path of the Shinobi in order to gain wealth and renown, and that was precisely what he achieved. He ended up in Lord Motonari's inner circle, and off they went to conquer these lands," she spoke in fake cheer. She then moved on to the woman standing next to Suemitsu.

"This was his sister, Kazue," she said, turning towards me. "She was your grandmother, you were named in honor of her."

I looked back at the woman in the picture. The grain made it difficult to make out fine details, but I could still see a general resemblance; in many ways, the shape of her mouth and eyes reminded me of my own mother. Her lineage also helped me gain some understanding regarding my own life.

I had often wondered why Shibuki was so intent on checking up on me before I had showcased any potential. At first, I simply assumed it was because both of my parents had been Jōnin. While that had likely played some role, our relation helped explain his actions further.

Shibuki's great-grandfather had been a rather… free man, with dozens of children he had allowed to take his clan's name, so relation alone didn't mean enough. There were also numerous orphaned children born from Jōnin, meaning my parents' position also wouldn't mean enough on its own. With both legacies though, I became just important enough to merit a yearly visit from the Daimyō, but not important enough for much more.

"She was a little younger than me, but I still looked up to her immensely," Akari continued, bringing me from my thoughts. "I was a simple smith's daughter, and in my mind, she was a noble lady in the Lord's court. I served as her maidservant when I was just a young girl, and that was when I met her brother, and she met your grandfather," Akari retold, moving on to the last person in the picture. "Murakami Shoichi, my husband's best friend and second in command. The two of them returned from battle one day, battered in body but burning with spirit. I was immediately enamored with Suemitsu," she explained, tracing over his face in the picture before continuing. "Ever looking up to her brother, Kazue was just as drawn to the man who stood by him," she finished.

From what I saw in the picture, Shoichi looked more like me than any of my relatives. I already showed the beginnings of his strong jawline and tall stature. My hair fell down my shoulders just like his, and I suspected that as I grew I'd start to look far more like him, only with my father's eyes and slightly darker skin.

Age wasn't the easiest trait to guess, but from what I could tell in the picture Akari and Suemitsu seemed to be the older couple. The observation made me curious as to the fates of my grandparents, but also slightly apprehensive. Regardless, I had a hunch that I would find out soon. Akari flipped the page. The next photograph was of her and Suemitsu holding a small child.

"This here was my little Tetsuo," she said achingly, once again tracing over the picture. "He was the happiest child, he barely ever cried you know? Your mother said the same of you. I'm sure he would have loved you," she said, voice cracking. The next picture once again included my grandparents, who now held a small child, and a much older Tetsuo. Tetsuo seemed to be around six, and the child in Kazue's hands, likely my mother, couldn't have been older than one.

"He adored your mother," Akari started explaining again, "It made Kazue's life much easier. Your mother was a mischievous child, but she knew that even if she looked away for a moment, Tetsuo would be there to keep her out of trouble," she said with a laugh. She flipped the page again, this time it was just Akari and Tetsuo.

"Just a few months later," Akari continued, voice cracking slightly, "Lord Kakuzu left the village, and the last independent Daimyō of the land used the chance to attack the village with the last of his might. At the end of it all, the village cheered in its overwhelming victory, but I wasn't among those celebrating," she said as a tear dripped from her eye, "I was mourning," she finished. I stayed silent as she moved on to the next picture. Kazue and Akari stood alone, with my mother in my grandmother's arms.

"Over the coming years, both Soichi and Tetsuo were lost to us," Akari started again, now openly crying. "Both sacrificed themselves to save their juniors." There was a hint of pride in her voice as she spoke, but it just barely masked the undercurrent of bitterness. "It broke the two of us, but Sayuri wasn't nearly mature enough to understand everything," Akari continued, referring to my mother.

"She professed her desire to become a kunoichi, to save everyone, on that very day, and Kazue shattered completely," Akari revealed, looking me in the eye. "When you told me the same, three years ago, I was devastated. I desperately wanted to sit you down and beg you not to take this path, to force you into a gentle life, but I knew that if I tried you would likely be taken from me."

I blinked up at her. I couldn't fully process the emotions tumbling around in my stomach. Knowing the truth of my aunt's perspective made me feel sick with myself for the pain that I put her through, but I didn't have it in me to become what she wanted. Akari spoke up again after a moment's pause.

"This is the last picture I have of your grandmother. It was taken on your mother's seventh birthday. I think it was the last time Kazue smiled. She drank herself to an early grave, and was lost to us less than a year later," she finished, finally closing up the photo binder.

She shifted over slightly and slowly pulled me into a hug. Tears started to well in my eyes. I didn't even know what there was for me to be sad about; this was all Akari's life, but emotions were never logical. I felt guilty, and there was nothing reasonable I could do to alleviate the feeling. Giving up the path of a shinobi just wasn't an option. I inwardly cursed my five-year-old body; it wasn't meant to deal with such emotions.

"I'm sorry," I whispered into her shoulder, and my aunt stroked my back placatingly. She let out a small laugh.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry about, Kazuo," she said. "You are a child." I didn't protest, because from her it was very much true. Akari was old enough to see a sixteen-year-old as no different from a five-year-old child. She pulled back slightly and looked me in the eye through her tears.

"If you truly wish to ease my heart, I only want you to promise me one thing," Akari stated.

"What is it?" I asked, eager for any way to lighten my conscience.

"You will be told, many times over the coming years, that it is a part of your duty to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the village," she began. "I want you to ignore it completely," she whispered resolutely. I looked at her in shock. What she asked wasn't treason by any means, but it still went against the dogma of the village, and could result in serious consequences for her if we were overheard.

"No matter what the costs, I want you to come home to me. I care not about your honor, about the good of this village, about anything. Just. Come. Back." Akari declared in a sharp hiss. I gathered myself and looked her in the eye.

"Alright, I said. I promise."

Akari's eyes softened immediately. She pulled me back into a hug. I relaxed into it completely, and breathed a deep sigh as my conscience was eased.

It was a cop-out in some ways. I wasn't a regular five-year-old; one sucked in by the propaganda machine. I never intended on dying in the service of the village, no matter what it might have cost. Other than Sora or Akari, I didn't have anyone I cared enough about to even consider sacrificing myself, so Akari's plea simply went hand-in-hand with my desire to survive.

Still, her single promise was enough to make me stop feeling as if I was betraying my only family with my every action. There may have been a part of my conscience that knew this was all a convenient facade, but I tucked it away with the growing collection of doubts and insecurities I held in the back of my mind.

For now, as I took in the warmth of Akari's arms, this tranquility was enough.

* * *

"C'mon, ya little twig. You can't even do a push-up?" a teenager asked incredulously. My temper couldn't help but flare up in my exhausted state.

"Maybe if your fat ass would get off me– ow!" I exclaimed, as the Chūnin on my back whacked me in the head with a twig.

"Watch your language little brat, we wouldn't want your uncle to think we were corrupting you," he said tauntingly. I growled in annoyance. Suien had been perfectly comfortable cursing in front of me when I was two, as long as Akari wasn't around. This jackass was just trying to rile me up.

I poured more chakra into my arms, so much that they started to burn, and began slowly rising up off the ground. After an agonizingly slow ascent, my arms finally straightened. The Chūnin hopped off my back, sending me crashing back down, and landed in front of my face. Minamoto Jun was a very memorable young man. He wasn't particularly notable in stature or build, but his face was incredibly expressive, giving him a liveliness that was hard to forget. His spiky brown hair was wrapped in a bandana, the only adornment to his standard Chūnin uniform.

I had been training with him and my other Chūnin teammate since I started D-ranks two months ago. I kicked off my mornings with my regular workout, before taking a mission that wouldn't leave me too fatigued. After my mission, I would meet with my teammates at the training grounds to have my body ground to dust. Suien would arrive to track my progress occasionally, but I was too fresh to really benefit from his training at this point. Since he had countless important tasks, and since his students knew exactly what his 'beginner' training involved, it was far more efficient for the Chūnin to train me.

I rested on the ground for a moment with my thoughts, before hopping up to join my teammate.

"What's next, Jun?" I asked, ignoring his attempts to rile me up. The teen pouted slightly.

"Man, you're no fun, kid," he said melodramatically. He tossed me a small scroll. "You should be strong enough for these, as long as you keep them at their lightest setting," he explained as I unsealed the scroll's contents. My eyes lit up in joy when I saw what was inside. In the scroll were four wide bands, maybe five inches in width and four in diameter, made of a kevlar-like material. A series of short, rectangular protrusions came off the band, making it look a little like an oddly-shaped gear. Kanji topped each protrusion, revealing the application of Fūinjutsu. These were training weights, something I had been asking Suien about for months. Unfortunately, I hadn't been strong enough yet for even the lightest set, but today that seemed to have changed.

I slipped the bands onto my wrists and ankles, and took a moment to move around with my limbs weighed down.

"Is this the lowest they go?" I asked. Jun grasped my hand and pulled it up, inspecting my wrist. He pointed to one of the rectangles.

"See how this guy says 'one'?" he asked. I felt a little stupid for not having noticed. Jun pressed his finger on the seal and channeled in a little chakra; the wrist-weight lightened immediately.

"Thanks!" I said, and got to work on the remaining three.

"Sure, take a moment to get used to them, Ken should be here soon," Jun let me know. Nagano Ken was our other teammate. Jun and Ken had been taken by Suien as part of a three-man cell when they had graduated from the academy. The two of them were now Chūnin, still working under his direction, but I didn't know what had happened to the third. He was either a Jōnin, or had fallen; given that they never spoke of him, I assumed the latter.

As I went through my exercises, I distracted myself from physical fatigue with my thoughts and started thinking about my other team member. Like Jun, Ken also boasted a memorable appearance. He was one of the few shinobi to choose 'traditional' attire in favor of the standard uniforms. He wore a grey kimono up top, cut off at the waist by a navy-blue set of _hakama_ : a traditional sort of baggy trousers. He had extremely dark eyes, to the point that they almost looked black, and his hair was tied back in a topknot, a lot like I'd expect from a samurai.

From my readings on history, I knew that samurai had become largely marginalized in this world. From what I understood, it had largely been due to the Sage's teachings. Samurai had been perpetually honor-bound, and stuck to their code, _Bushidō_ , strictly, while shinobi simply aimed to accomplish their mission. As such, when monks began spreading knowledge and techniques regarding chakra, many shinobi disguised themselves and snuck into their temples. With their understanding of chakra, shinobi were to develop increasingly devastating ninjutsu, to the point where samurai became irrelevant.

After a few decades of decline, the obstinate samurai clans finally amended their codes to allow for the use of chakra, but the damage had already been done. Most who used chakra to do combat were now known as shinobi, regardless of whether they followed the stealthy methods they had originally been known for. Even after beginning to use chakra, the samurai struggled to find ways to keep combat honorable while using it. For samurai, battle wasn't just a matter of life-and-death, it was a clash of ideals, and the victor was meant to be the one with firmer beliefs. It took several years for samurai to refine their use of chakra to the point where it could be used in accordance with their code, but in that time shinobi had grown too powerful with their unrestricted development of chakra.

Shinobi now held the vast majority of the world's military power. The Daimyō, who commanded samurai forces, found themselves having to stand at the same level, or even below, the leaders of large shinobi clans. Over centuries the practices of the samurai had been eroded, by the increasing influence of shinobi, until even the nobility ceased to recognize the samurai code and instead became shinobi in their own right. Many clans still held on to small fragments of the samurai lifestyle though, and I suspected Ken hailed from one of these clans.

As if summoned from my thoughts, the young man flickered into the clearing.

"Jun, Kazuo," Ken greeted with a quick bow. He spoke in a very even tone, but with an undercurrent of warmth which made him come off as friendly.

"Yo," Jun greeted simply, waving his hand from where he was lying, back against a tree stump.

"Hey, Ken," I offered a little less casually, finishing up my exercises.

"Those weights may still be a little heavy on you, Kazuo," Ken informed after nodding at my greeting. I sighed slightly, knowing he was right. I needed to be able to achieve a full range of motion while still keeping my movements smooth for the weights to be deemed appropriate, but I just barely missed the mark. Ken walked over and moved the weights further up my limbs by an inch or two.

"That should help a little, but I think you won't be hurt by just working through it," Ken informed. I nodded at his words. These were the lightest set of commercially available training weights, and it didn't make sense to commission seal work since I was only a few weeks away from being able to use these fully.

"Anyways," Ken cut in, interrupting my thoughts. "Suien-sensei said to come by to his office for your second session today," he said. From the side, Jun groaned in dismay.

"How come you get out of babysitting? So not fair man," he complained, before looking over to me. "No offense," he added quickly.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. I wasn't all that angry, since I mostly understood. There were plenty of things for him to do which would have been far more entertaining than training a five-year-old.

"No problem!" Jun replied brightly, pretending to completely ignore my tone. "Anyways, you should get going. Don't want to keep boss-man waiting," he said. I gave him a salute.

"Got it, jackass," I said before flickering out of the clearing. He probably wouldn't care enough to chase me; I hoped.

* * *

"Hi, Yoshie!" I greeted as I arrived at the office.

"Good afternoon, Kazuo," Yoshie returned brightly. "Uncle said you were coming, go ahead in," she directed.

"What took so long?" asked Suien as I entered the room. I winced slightly.

"I can't body flicker properly with these on," I said, holding up my weights. The body flicker was a technique which allowed shinobi to move extremely quickly over short distances. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work nearly as well with the added load. Suien grunted in acceptance of my explanation.

"Sounds about right," he acquiesced. "So, how have these past few months been with the two bigger brats?" Suien asked.

"Great!" I answered enthusiastically. "Jun has gotten me a lot stronger, I feel like I actually have enough strength to be a genin now, and Ken realized I was hopeless with a sword, so I've been working on chakra and ninjutsu with him," I explained. Suien chuckled a little towards the end.

"Your dad was just as shit with a sword," he explained. "How far along are you with ninjutsu?" he asked. I waved my hand in a 'so-so' gesture.

"I'm passable, I think. I still have below-average reserves for a genin, which limits what I can do, but my control is _really_ good," I explained.

"That's good to hear, have you put any thought into a niche?" he asked. That question made me pause. Most shinobi grew to fill in a niche as their careers advanced, and the earlier one started working on it the better. Suien was a water release specialist, but was also exceptional with a sword. Jun had taken after Suien in learning water techniques, and Ken had done the same with Kenjutsu, or sword techniques.

"Well," I started, "Taijutsu is definitely my biggest strength, and it's what I enjoy the most, but we don't exactly have many Taijutsu specialists here to learn from," I mused out loud before trailing off into thought. Suien nodded and waited for me to go on.

' _I don't really need to branch off from taijutsu; at the end of the day, it's probably the strongest shinobi art when taken to its limit, but without someone to teach me the eight inner gates, I need to find some other way to take it to the next level,"_ I thought. I also idly considered my other options. Ken had mentioned getting me started on nature transformation soon, and I honestly didn't have all that much of a respect for Genjutsu. I didn't even have a vague idea of what the pinnacle of Genjutsu could look like without special red eyes. For Taijutsu and Ninjutsu though, I had very clear examples, both from reading about history and from the fictional world of my past life.

Eventually, my musings came to an end. There _was_ one field I had become increasingly interested in, and it was the best way for me to develop techniques like the 'eight inner gates.' I looked up at Suien.

"How about medical ninjutsu?" I offered. Suien looked back at me in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Well... that took a while to come out. Sorry about the delay! Life has been crazy this past week, but things have calmed down a bit so I should be able to get back to posting every other day for the next few weeks at least.
> 
> As always, I'd love a comment or review, thanks!
> 
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------
> 
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn from our world into the world of Naruto.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and 'aunt' of unknown relation.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first-year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First-year academy student who started a year early, the only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First-year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First-year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.
> 
> Arai Juro: Teacher for Kazuo's third-year academy class.
> 
> Iwamoto Maki: the second youngest student in Kazuo's first academy class.
> 
> Kuno Toru: a student in Kazuo's academy class.
> 
> Watanabe Yoshie: Suien's niece and secretary. A double amputee.
> 
> Mori Suemitsu: Akari's late husband.
> 
> Murakami Kazue: Kazuo's late grandmother, Suemitsu's sister, and Akari's sister-in-law.
> 
> Murakami Soichi: Kazuo's late grandfather.
> 
> Minamoto Jun: A Chūnin on Kazuo's team under Suien. Served in a three-genin-cell under Suien.
> 
> Nagano Ken: A Chūnin on Kazuo's team under Suien. Served in a three-genin-cell under Suien.


	10. A Small Rockslide Forms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I live for reviews.

#  **A Small Rockslide Forms**

"Why on earth would you want to become a medic?" Suien asked me incredulously.

"I never said anything about becoming a medic," I shot back quickly. That most certainly wasn't the route I wanted to go. I was already going to be quite sheltered, since the village wouldn't want to risk losing a prodigy, but becoming a medic on top of that would leave me locked in the village indefinitely.

"I just thought it might be useful to be able to heal myself or Jun and Ken if something goes wrong," I explained, but I knew Suien wouldn't buy that as the only reason. "I also thought the chakra scalpel technique could make up for my lack of strength since I'm pretty focused on Taijutsu," I added. Suien snorted at my explanation.

"You seriously think you're the first person to think of that?" he asked.

"Er, no?" I responded.

' _I thought Kabuto was,'_ I added in my head.

"There's a reason no one uses it," he explained. "It requires an absurd level of control and concentration to keep those scalpels up, using them as weapons is ridiculous," I felt my confidence drop down a peg as he spoke, but I didn't want to relent.

"The fact that no one else has gotten it down doesn't make it impossible," I added petulantly. "Either way, it's useful to know and might give me other ideas," I continued quickly, before he could cut in. Kabuto didn't have any bloodline or 'special chakra' like so many of the characters I remembered. If he could get it down, there was a good chance that with enough work I could too.

"I'm telling you, kid, it's going to be a waste of your time," Suien insisted. "If you just want something to make up for your size and strength, you'll be so much better off learning to use a weapon," he said. I looked at him unimpressed.

"Uncle, no matter how many times you try to convince me, I'm not going to learn how to use a sword," I replied, knowing exactly what he was working towards. Suien huffed slightly.

"How about a staff?" he offered in compromise. I folded my arms and shook my head. I looked five, and childish stubbornness was expected of me. Having raised a child already, Suien knew when logic would get him nowhere. He sighed heavily.

"If I say no, you'll end up wasting even more of your time trying to learn on your own, I'm guessing?" he asked. I nodded resolutely.

A binder clip hit my forehead.

"Ow!" I shouted, glaring at the man. He smirked right back.

"You deserved that," he said unrepentantly. "Since you're going to be a brat about it, I'll get you a spot at the hospital for some classes," he acquiesced. I perked up immediately.

" _But_ ," Suien continued, "You'll also have to take time to learn the Genjutsu I give you."

I winced slightly. I didn't really _dislike_ Genjutsu, I just didn't have much of a respect for it. There weren't any historical accounts of Genjutsu being extremely powerful, while there were plenty for Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. The only reference points I had were from my 'external' knowledge, but those all required the 'fancy-red-eyes' that I lacked. Still, it wasn't a bad trade.

"I'll do it," I told him decisively. Suien snorted again.

"Like I expected anything else," he said, before glancing up at the clock. "Alright, brat, you've gotta head out now. I'll send someone over with the class schedule, and Ken will help you with Genjutsu," he instructed, and I nodded in acceptance.

"Alright, Uncle, try to get some sleep this month," I advised sagely. I ran out of the room, barely dodging another binder clip.

* * *

The next day was a Saturday, which was supposed to be my rest day. I understood the importance of allowing my body and chakra network to recover, so I generally used these days to read, explore the village, and run errands for Akari. I was currently occupied with the third.

"Morning, Miss Okada!" I greeted, entering the store. The elderly lady at the counter gave me a warm smile.

"Good morning, Kazuo" she returned. Miss Okada, who's first name I admittedly didn't know, owned one of the grocers I frequented when picking up supplies for Akari's tea house. She liked to vary the refreshments and sweets she offered based on what was in season.

"Anything interesting come in?" I asked, looking around at all the different produce, hoping to spot something new.

"You're in luck this week, actually," Miss Okada said, making her way around the counter.

"These mandarins just came in, and they're wonderful," she said happily, holding up a plump, brightly colored little orange.

"Ooh, those look good!" I exclaimed, eying the fruit hungrily. I enjoyed most fruits, but I had a particular love for oranges.

"Feel free to try one," Miss Okada said with a laugh, tossing me the orange. I grabbed it out of the air and peeled it quickly.

"These are _so_ good," I mumbled through my mouthful. "They'll be great in aunty's _anmitsu_ ," I added as I finished. The woman hummed and nodded in response.

"That would be lovely, wouldn't it?" she replied. "I'll have to come over for some," she said cheerily. "These also just came in from a greenhouse just outside the village," the elderly lady explained as she walked around the crates of produce.

"You and your aunt should really take a day trip one of these weekends," Miss Okada advised as she stopped in front of a basket of strawberries and picked one up. "Ah, I'm imagining one of these in your aunt's _daifuku_ ," she said. I immediately nodded in agreement.

"They're so red! How'd that happen in January?" I asked in slight disbelief.

"Yes, I was quite surprised too," the woman agreed, "they found a new way to grow them in their greenhouses, and they come out even sweeter than in the summer!" she exclaimed. "They keep them nice and warm in the day, but at night they open up vents to cool them down. They say it traps the sweetness inside!" she explained enthusiastically.

"Huh, I wonder how they figured that out?" I pondered. Miss Okada, ever knowledgeable about agriculture, quickly offered an explanation.

"I believe they looked towards the north. Up in Miyagi, where my brother lives, they grow wonderful strawberries!" she said proudly. "Over there it can be quite warm during the day, but at night it gets hard to stay outside without a jacket," she explained.

"That makes a lot of sense," I said while nodding. "Alright," I started, knowing I needed to head out soon. "Let's go with fifteen kilos of each for today," I decided. Akari had ensured I was knowledgeable enough about her shop to make these kinds of judgments. The fruits were rapidly crated and I left with two large boxes stacked on top of my head.

Both Akari's tea house and Miss Okada's store were on Fourth Avenue: the fourth from the center in the series of streets circled the Lake of Heroes. There were fifteen such Avenues, spaced out as a series of concentric rings all two-hundred-and-twenty meters apart. Twelve Streets extended outwards from the village's lake, but the number of streets doubled every three Avenues, forming a hundred-and-ninety-two Streets by the time one reached the edge of the crater our village occupied. It was an exceptionally elegant design. I just wished I could see it from up high. Unfortunately, the Mother Tree's canopy covered the vast majority of the village's fifty-plus square-kilometer surface area, heavily obstructing any observers.

Fourth Avenue was one of the busiest avenues. It was close enough to the center of the village to remain easily accessible by the wealthiest residents, but not so close that the real-estate costs became too high. As such, there were numerous observers being thoroughly entertained by the spectacle of a five-year-old carrying a stack of wooden crates on his head while walking down the street. I basked in the occasional incredulous giggle; it was fun to show off some times, but the majority of the Avenue's regulars were used to seeing me on Saturdays.

I nodded in greeting at the familiar faces I saw, thinking the names to myself.

' _Miss Sawada, the baker; Miss Mori, the florist; the other Miss Mori, who was also a florist; Mister Aki, the blacksmith; Miss Fujita, the tailor, Mister Mori, the shop clerk; and yet another Miss Mori, this one a jeweler.'_

There was a never-ending list of merchants I knew through Akari.

I arrived at my aunt's tea house within a few minutes and popped the door open with my foot.

"I got good stuff, Aunty!" I exclaimed as I entered.

"Ah, Kazuo! Let an old man have a peek," insisted an elderly man sitting in one of the booths by the fireplace. We were too far south to get much snow, but it was still pretty chilly for some older individuals like Mister Soga. Soga Yori was one of our regulars, a long-retired shinobi who had served during the first days of the village. He had taken mostly administrative roles, but he still had plenty of interesting stories to tell.

"No can do, Mister Soga," I denied, shaking my head as Akari bustled out of the storeroom.

"Yori!" she exclaimed as she approached. "Stop bothering the poor boy," she admonished before turning to me, "come, Kazuo, I've made room in the refrigerator," she directed before turning back towards the storeroom. I shot Yori an apologetic smile, which he laughed off, and hurried after my aunt.

"So what is it you managed to find?" Akari asked. Many of the more 'luxurious' or exotic produce items were in short supply during the war, but I had lucked out. I cracked open the two crates.

"Ah, I was waiting for the first crop of mandarins to come in," Akari said happily, "but why on earth would you buy strawberries in January?" she asked incredulously. I sighed and launched into an explanation.

"Well, I thought the same thing, but they were really red, so I asked how, and she said they have fancy greenhouses that make it like Miyagi, and Miyagi has really nice strawberries, so now we have nice strawberries in winter," I recited in rapid-fire. Akari chuckled and patted my head.

"I caught half of that, at best," she said, "but I will take your word for it."

Akari then fished a small scroll out of one of her pockets.

"This came for you, while you were out," she explained. I took the scroll, curious about its contents.

"Ah!" I exclaimed. "Suien got me into a Field-Medics' class," I said happily. Akari smiled at that. She had been rather happy about my forays into medical techniques; she hoped I would fully embrace the medic's path, thus maximizing my safety. I had told her that was never going to happen, but she remained unreasonably optimistic.

"By the way, can you make Anmitsu with those mandarins?" I asked eagerly, looking up from the scroll. It was my day off, and I had just gotten good news. Today was for celebration, tomorrow was… more D-ranks.

' _Ugh.'_

* * *

"Alright! New teams, form up!" called the Tokubetsu Jōnin standing at the front of a checkpoint. All of the assembled shinobi complied immediately, forming a line behind him. As he spoke, a large ox-drawn cart wheeled out from behind us, past a gate and onto a large wooden platform that extended outwards from a cliff face. Once the cart was fully on board, the platform started to slowly descend. This was how most goods arrived in Takigakure; there were dozens of massive elevators stationed around the crater to allow merchants in and out.

It may have been inconvenient, but there were numerous benefits to trading with a hidden village. Shinobi were amongst the wealthier segments of the population, and generally paid fairly when in the village. Military discipline and surveillance made crime a far smaller risk when in the village, and the nations very quickly dealt with bandits and raiders affecting their supply lines.

The next cart approached the checkpoint, and the Tokubetsu Jōnin, our Captain, directed us into action.

"Brace for enemy contact!" he shouted, and he stepped up to the carriage's front compartment.

Two men stepped out with their hands on their heads. They were each patted down by a Chūnin, then directed over to our Captain. His name was Sugimoto Yuka and, like the Captains of the other checkpoints, he was a spectacularly skilled sensor. He stood in front of the two merchants with his eyes closed for a few seconds, before giving a sharp nod to the two Chūnin. The merchants were escorted to the side.

Yuka then took a slow lap around the cart, presumably scanning for any hidden occupants. As he got to the end, he waited a few moments, before giving a shout.

"All clear!" he shouted. We all sighed in relief. Most of us were here for the D-rank mission that came next in this process. Two of the taller genin ran over and lifted the tarp off the carriage, revealing a number of crates, before backing away to a safe distance.

"Brace!" shouted Yuka. Another shinobi then approached the carriage. I didn't know his exact rank, but I suspected he was either a higher-ranking Chūnin or Tokubetsu Jōnin due to his role. He stepped up onto the carriage and started sifting through crates. I surmised that he was either a clone, or had some way of surviving a planted explosive, which made him perfect for this role. We all waited with bated breath.

"All clear!" shouted the shinobi on the carriage, and we all let out a collective sigh.

"Team A, take stock! All teams, forward!" Yuka directed. The assembled shinobi moved forward in an orderly fashion, leaving me behind alongside two other genin. The three of us quickly ran over to the cart. It was now time for the third, and least dangerous part of the mission: inventory.

Our task was to weigh each crate, record the contents, and check for any discrepancies in the manifest. It was a fairly dreary task, but it wasn't difficult and it got me up out of the crater for some time. I had certainly grown to love the village, but sometimes I just wanted to see the sunlight without any obstruction from leaves.

We worked on it for several minutes, unloading a crate, logging the weight on a scale, cracking it open, checking what was inside, and so on. By the time we were finished, the next six carriages were all being inventoried by other genin teams, and the Captain was at the seventh.

We dropped off our report with the Chūnin at the front of the checkpoint, and hurried over to the seventh carriage.

"Team A, report!" Yuka instructed as we approached. The oldest from us stepped forward.

"No discrepancies, sir!" he reported. Yuka gave a quick nod.

"Good work, stay with formation until reset," Yuka explained, before turning around and heading back to the line.

The same pattern as before continued with the next carriage. The higher-ranked shinobi carried out their inspection, and a genin team was left behind to take inventory, but on the second carriage, things changed; the last inventory was taken by all of the shinobi present. As such, we finished before the teams at the two previous carriages and had to wait a few minutes. Once everyone was ready, the whole team returned to the checkpoint, allowing the remaining merchants' carts to move up several spaces.

This song-and-dance continued uninterrupted for several hours. Unfortunately, life often liked becoming eventful.

* * *

"Secure the suspect!" shouted the shinobi on the carriage as he threw an apple high into the air. Yuka reacted immediately, blurring over to the merchant who had driven the cart and knocking him out. As the apple reached the top of its arc, it exploded into a large fireball. I marveled at it slightly; I had never seen an explosion from so close. I had certainly experienced one far closer, but I hadn't seen anything then.

"Shit," Yuka cursed while binding the hands of the suspect. He pulled a paper tag out of his pouch and slapped it on the man's neck.

"Any Chūnin on status C or lower?" Yuka shouted loudly, looking towards the assembled shinobi. Three of them looked back and shook their heads.

"Dammit. Alright, genin!" he called, and we all snapped to attention. "Teams A, C, E, G, I, you will be escorting the prisoner to holding. Who here knows where holding block one-forty-six is located?" he asked. I was one of four out of fifteen to raise a hand. He scanned over us.

"You!" Yuka said, pointing to the oldest-looking: a dark-haired kunoichi who seemed to be around fifteen. "You're now the provisional team leader," he explained. "You!" he shouted again, pointing to the largest of us, "Do you think you can carry him?" he asked. The boy nodded in response.

"Good," he stated, before stepping back and addressing us all, "The prisoner should remain unconscious and has no access to chakra. Should he regain consciousness and attempt to escape, you will move to neutralize with lethal force, understood?" he asked. We all nodded, full of determination. No genin graduated from the academy with any delusions regarding the nature of this career.

"I will give all of you the chance to back out. I'm sure there will be someone willing to take your place. Is there anyone who does not want to go?" Yuka asked, but none of the genin wavered. He gave a small nod in acceptance.

"Very well," Yuka said, picking up the prisoner with the same level of effort that might be used for a bag of feathers. The large genin stepped forward, and Yuka placed the unconscious man on his shoulders. He took a few moments to get situated; his shuffling was the only sound heard in the tense silence.

Finally, everything was ready. Yuka gave a final nod.

"Move out," he directed. Our appointed team leader looked back at us one by one, stopping on me with a slight wince, before she took off at a moderate pace.

"You can go faster, don't worry about me," I spoke up, determining the reason behind the leader's previous expression.

Giving me a grateful look, she accelerated slightly. We reached the edge of the crater, and the leader looked back at the genin carrying the prisoner.

"Can you wall-walk with him on your back?" she asked. The larger boy grimaced slightly, and bounced on his legs a few times before nodding.

"Should be fine," he said. The leader once again looked thankful. Had the larger boy been unable, we would have all had to take the maintenance stairs; an agonizingly slow endeavor.

The crater's edge was topped off by a kilometer high cliff face. After that, it gradually rounded out until it was flat enough for buildings and roads. This meant we had a two-kilometer descent until we were on relatively flat ground.

One-by-one, we proceeded off the cliff as we had been taught in the academy. We were staggered, to avoid hitting anyone else if we lost footing, but we weren't too far apart. That way, if an accident occurred, others could quickly catch the falling shinobi.

Thankfully, the trip remained uneventful until we reached the edge of Fifteenth Avenue: the outermost road wrapping around the village. Fifteenth Avenue was populated exclusively by two types of structures: houses, of people who wanted as much seclusion as they could get in a 'village' boasting a population just under two-hundred thousand, and security stations. We were headed towards the holding block of one of these security stations, specifically the one on the corner of One-forty-sixth Street.

The moment we stepped onto the Avenue, we all felt a great sense of relief. Naturally, things immediately went to shit.

I had been keeping a close eye on the prisoner; an ominous feeling had been brewing in my gut, and I reacted the moment he moved. The prisoner jammed a kunai into the thigh of the genin carrying him, and the boy dropped with a scream. The man immediately launched himself towards the edge of the crater, right into my path.

He swung the knife at me, but with his chakra sealed he was no more physically capable than an exceptionally fit civilian. I ducked under the swing and launched my fist towards his knee with as much force as possible. Bone crumbled, and the man went down with a scream. He passed straight over my head as he fell, and continued to scramble away. I launched myself directly at the man's back, slamming him into the ground, and started raining blows into the back of his neck.

I felt as if I sat there for hours, landing blow after blow turning the man's neck into a red paste, until finally another genin pulled me off.

"It's okay, kid, it's okay," he said soothingly, patting my back as I hyperventilated.

"Holy shit," I wheezed, dropping to my knees and staring at the remains of my handiwork. The man's head was almost completely separated from his body, his spine pulverized along with the surrounding flesh. I felt bile rise up in my chest and clenched my eyes shut to block out the scene. Suddenly, I remembered how the whole situation began; I spun around on my knees and scrambled to my feet, slipping past the boy who had pulled me away.

The wounded genin was on his back, taking quick shallow breaths. Our team leader worked frantically to tie off his wound, but the amount of blood wasn't promising. A Chūnin flickered in front of her and immediately took over.

"Report!" he barked as he tied off a tourniquet. I realized no more than fifteen seconds had passed between when the prisoner made his move and the Chūnin arrived; the response time was astonishing, but it had been nowhere near enough.

"W-we were instructed to transport the prisoner to holding block one-forty-six, but the prisoner regained consciousness early, and was neutralized with casualties," she responded, doing her best to stay even-toned. I watched as the Chūnin worked, and noticed that the wound was right above the genin's kunai pouch.

' _Goddamn Idiot!'_ I cursed in my head, incensed at the boy's carelessness. The genin had slung the prisoner over his shoulder such that the man's face was directly over the boy's kunai pouch.

' _Why couldn't you use the right fucking shoulder?'_ I shouted in my head, gritting my teeth and turning away.

I knew it was utterly irrational to blame the boy, especially when he was facing the consequences. Any one of us should have noticed, but I was frightened and frustrated. Frightened at being confronted so plainly by mortality, and frustrated with my own powerlessness.

' _Suien would have been fast enough, hell even Jun or Ken would have been fast enough,'_ I thought helplessly. All of them were fast enough to have reached the man's hand before he had stabbed down, but not me, and now I had to watch this boy bleed out.

The boy's breaths grew shallower, and he latched onto the Chūnin's sleeve.

"You'll be alright, kid," the man lied reassuringly. I had to resist the urge to snort; there was almost as much blood on the road as in the boy's body. "Just try to hang in there," he urged.

The boy just gave a weak whimper in response, too light headed to speak. We all found it hard to look away from the scene, as the man tried his best to comfort the dying boy. A few of us wanted to step forward to try to help; we all had basic first aid training, but we had so choke down the fact that it was hopeless. The kunai had completely opened up the femoral artery, and the tourniquet had been tied too late. He might have been saved with a blood transfusion, but there was no hospital close enoug. As the agonizing seconds ticked on, a few more Chūnin arrived at the scene, but they stood back respectfully. After what felt like hours, but could have only been about a minute, the boy finally breathed his last. His eyes glazed, and his head dropped to the ground.

As I stared at a corpse for the second time in either life, I had an idle thought.

' _I never even got his name.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And now, we start…
> 
> AN: If you're leaving a favorite or follow, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!  
> \-----------------------------------------  
> anmitsu: A Japanese dessert; cubes of various fruit jellies are mixed with fresh fruit, and are served atop sweet bean paste and alongside a sweet sauce.
> 
> daifuku: A Japanese dessert made by stuffing a sticky dough of glutinous rice (called mochi) with various fillings; the most common are red bean paste and strawberries.
> 
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------  
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn from our world into the world of Naruto.
> 
> Kimoto Sayuri: Mother of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Kimoto Koji: Father of Kazuo. Passed away during the assault that kicked off the war.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and great-aunt.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Son of Suien, the top Jōnin of Takigakure in the filler arc.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Sugita Mamoru: Teacher for Kazuo's first-year academy class.
> 
> Oyama Sho: First-year academy student who started a year early, the only student to beat Kazuo's 100m time.
> 
> Oyama Takeo: Sho's father.
> 
> Aoyama Hisoka: First-year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Anzai Katsuo: First-year academy student who excelled in almost all portions of the initial evaluation.
> 
> Miura Saki: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Matsouka Kou: Sora's genin teammate.
> 
> Tada Kayo: Sora's Jōnin-sensei.
> 
> Arai Juro: Teacher for Kazuo's third-year academy class.
> 
> Iwamoto Maki: the second youngest student in Kazuo's first academy class.
> 
> Kuno Toru: a student in Kazuo's academy class.
> 
> Watanabe Yoshie: Suien's niece and secretary. A double amputee.
> 
> Mori Suemitsu: Akari's late husband.
> 
> Murakami Kazue: Kazuo's late grandmother, Suemitsu's sister, and Akari's sister-in-law.
> 
> Murakami Soichi: Kazuo's late grandfather.
> 
> Minamoto Jun: A Chūnin on Kazuo's team under Suien. Served in a three-genin-cell under Suien.
> 
> Nagano Ken: A Chūnin on Kazuo's team under Suien. Served in a three-genin-cell under Suien.
> 
> Miss Okada: A grocery store owner in Takigakure.
> 
> Soga Yori: A regular at Akari's tea house.
> 
> Sugimoto Yuka: A Tokubetsu Jōnin who serves as the Captain of a checkpoint at one of the village's entry gates.


	11. A Small Rockslide Strikes a Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I live for reviews.

#  **A Small Rockslide Strikes a Stone**

"Good afternoon, Kazuo."

The woman who greeted me held a comforting demeanor. Most shinobi, both male and female, were incredibly lean and well-muscled, but her build was noticeably softer than that of most kunoichi. As a result, her appearance, supplemented by the serene and caring expression on her face, made her incredibly disarming, and I wasn't immune.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Yamane, correct?" I returned. She smiled brightly and nodded.

"Indeed, though you can call me Miss Yamane, or even Kiyoko if you'd prefer," she answered.

"Miss Yamane, then," I decided, preferring the more personable honorific. She made a quick note on her notepad while speaking up.

"Wonderful," she said, before looking up. "So, how has today been for you, so far?" she asked, sitting back slightly in her armchair.

I took a moment to think. Kiyoko was the counselor assigned to me after the disastrous ending to my last mission. I knew many shinobi scoffed at the counseling sessions offered by the village, but I felt no need to be antagonistic.

Truthfully, I had no idea how I felt about the events that took place two nights ago; I barely had any idea about how I felt regarding _anything_. A large part of me hoped that this woman might be able to help bring clarity to the jumbled thoughts and emotions swirling around in my head, so I resolved to do my best to cooperate with her.

"I want to say 'good,' since it went like normal, but I just felt like I was going through the motions I guess," I mused, trailing off. "I just feel really numb. I'm-" I paused, searching for the words. "I'm really confused," I admitted after a few moments.

"That's perfectly natural, Kazuo," Kiyoko responded. "Tell me, do you think experiences like yours are common?" she asked, leaning forward slightly. I nodded immediately.

"I'd certainly expect them to be," I responded. To my surprise, Kiyoko shook her head.

"Not at all," she said, "and I'm sure that surprises you," she surmised accurately. I looked at her, feeling slightly incredulous, but didn't interject before she continued.

"Normally," Kiyoko started, "shinobi are introduced to trauma in the most controlled manner possible," she explained. "We start them with prisoners. Murderers, rapists, and the like - the kind of scum the village has determined must be dealt with permanently. The vast majority of genin gain their first kills by dealing with prisoners like these."

I nodded slightly, thinking over it; that approach made plenty of sense. There was sure to be no shortage of criminals in a world that lacked any semblance of stability, but even if none were available, I assumed that genin would be given a captured enemy with a fabricated backstory.

"Afterwards," Kiyoko continued, breaking me from my thoughts, "when genin have been with their assigned cells for long enough, they go through what we call the 'trial of grief.' In this trial, each genin voluntarily has their chakra sealed off, and is placed into a vivid illusion where they watch their teammate fall. They remain in the illusion for twenty-four hours of real-time, which translates to several days of perceived time, during which they begin to feel true grief. When they come out of the illusion, they receive counseling and coaching to ensure they develop healthy coping mechanisms," she explained.

I blinked away my shock and cut in, finishing Kiyoko's explanation for her.

"So by the time they actually lose a teammate on the field, they're far better equipped for the emotional fallout than I am," I surmised. Kiyoko nodded with a small, slightly grim smile.

It was an absolutely horrifying practice, but I also understood why it was done. Losing comrades was an inevitable reality of shinobi life, and shinobi were far better off experiencing that loss for the first time in a controlled environment. I imagined that this practice must have cut down significantly on the number of casualties caused by panic in the field.

"Precisely," she confirmed before continuing, "Which is why I'm not at all surprised by your confusion. In fact, I'd be far more concerned if you _weren't_ confused," she admitted.

I hummed in understanding. Utter ambivalence towards killing would have likely marked me as a sociopath of some kind, and I guessed that such a mindset wouldn't be very desirable amongst the hidden villages; I wasn't sure how one could ensure the loyalty of a sociopath.

"My job, Kazuo," Kiyoko continued, catching my attention once again, "is to help you confront that confusion, and to work with you in hopes of resolving it. Does that sound good to you?" she asked.

I looked her in the eye and saw nothing but genuine concern. I supposed that she could have been an exceptional actress, but I realized that I didn't really care. I wanted to get back to thinking and feeling properly, and this woman was a professional. I was left with only one answer.

"Yes, please," I responded. "I'll do my best."

* * *

I continued visiting Kiyoko for the next several days. My mental state had been weighing on me ever since the incident, but not for the expected reasons.

I expected nightmares when I returned home that first night, but I received none. I expected to look down at my hands and see blood, but they looked perfectly clean. I expected ghosts of the dying boy to haunt my vision, but they never arrived. I even tried forcing images into my mind: the prisoner's vertebrae scattered throughout the mess of gore that was once his neck, or the kunai bisecting the boy's thigh effortlessly, bringing forth a shower of blood. Despite my efforts, not even the slightest hint of bile came up my throat.

I constantly felt numb, like some sort of automaton going through the motions of life without any feeling. I was self-aware enough to know that my emotions had already been slightly stunted after the loss of my parents, but now they felt unnatural. The only emotion I managed to feel was anxiety over the fact that I couldn't feel anything else, but I didn't really count that. My sessions with Kiyoko were helping, admittedly, but progress was slow, and I wanted some results _now._ Fortunately, I had an idea.

I made my way to the village center as sunset approached, idly noting the beauty of the orange skies through the Mother Tree's canopy. I chose to take the bridge across the Lake of Heroes today. The water was too cold for a swim, and it would be a waste of chakra to water-walk when there was a perfectly good bridge available.

The Mother Tree's trunk was an incredible sight. Its gargantuan roots stretched out hundreds of meters from the trunk, holding together an island nearly a kilometer across. The mound of tangled roots made a hill of sorts, offering an infinite number of burrows and sanctuaries to the wildlife. I loved this tree immensely; it was comforting in a manner that just couldn't be expressed by words or phrases.

I took a leisurely pace as I circumnavigated the island, and attempted to draw some enjoyment out of my hike. There were always numerous visitors right near the bridge, but the far side always offered far more privacy. Eventually, I found a secluded spot by the water, where the root formed an arch over the lake's surface.

I took a seat and paused for a few moments to appreciate my surroundings. Society was unbelievably ugly; I was certain of that fact, but nature's beauty never ceased to amaze me.

After a few deep breaths, I felt myself fall into a meditative trance. More than an hour passed by in utter tranquility, but after a while, I started to find it harder and harder to keep my mind relaxed.

The sound of the wind had gotten unbearably loud, and my eyes snapped open as I realized why it had bothered me so much. I could hear wind quite clearly, but the air around me was almost completely still. I searched the Mother Tree's canopy for any stirring leaves, in hopes of finding the source of the noise, but they barely fluttered. As I continued to listen, I realized that the sound of moving air was coming from directly behind me. I spun around.

I had to catch myself by sending chakra to my feet, and I just barely avoided falling off the root I was standing on. Somehow, when I had chosen this spot, I had missed the massive tunnel right behind my back.

Perhaps 'massive tunnel' was generous. 'Massive' meant 'barely large enough for me to walk in while standing upright,' and 'tunnel' meant 'an uninterrupted gap in the tangle of roots, stretching as far as my eyes could see.' Needless to say, I was extremely curious.

I hopped off my perch and dropped into the entrance, which stood at the very edge of the waterline. After letting my eyes adjust, I started to cautiously walk forward, intent on uncovering the mystery behind the strange wind.

I continued on with slow, deliberate steps. Every so often, I would hear skittering somewhere off in the darkness, sense an insect crawl over my foot, or feel myself brush past a cobweb, but I ignored it all and walked forward. After a few minutes of progress, I had to stop again to reacclimate my vision, and I took the chance to closely observe my surroundings.

I let out a small laugh, as I realized the space around me looked like the set of a horror movie. A cramped, dark, tunnel, covered in spiders and filled with strange noises. Strangely, I didn't feel anything but comfort. I somehow found it impossible to fear anything related to the Mother Tree.

I knew that others would have been unnerved by the nearly religious faith the great tree inspired, but they would never understand without standing in its presence. The Mother Tree's presence felt like the purest expression of nature's benevolence. Each breath taken in its vicinity felt crisp, and left the lungs feeling cleaned; the sunlight filtered perfectly through its leaves, leaving every street perfectly lit; its branches felt like a warm embrace, sheltering us from the horrors outside. We called it the Mother Tree for a reason; its very presence was comfort.

As I left my thoughts, I noticed something strange. It felt far warmer here than outside. I continued forward, hoping to investigate.

Finally, after traveling well over a hundred meters into the roots, I started to feel the wind on my skin. It was oddly warm, and came in long, steady gusts. I felt excitement bubble up in me. I wasn't the most scientifically minded individual, but I knew this was something revolutionary. There were many studies that had been conducted on the origins of the crater and the Mother Tree, but there was no concrete evidence proving any of the theories. As I walked forward, I started to form my own theories.

' _Perhaps the warm air is the result of a pool of magma, or a geyser of some kind? The village's crater could very well have once been the top of some impossibly large volcano! Volcanic soil was extremely dense in nutrients, right? Maybe that helped with the tree's absurd growth?'_ I theorized as I continued forward.

Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that I wouldn't be receiving any answers that night. The space between roots continued to grow smaller and smaller, until eventually, I had to drop to a crawl, and soon after I was forced to stop. The wind swiftly left my sails as I realized I wouldn't be able to continue any further. I sighed deeply and felt a little sheepish about the fact that I had assumed that I would solve the mystery so quickly.

I was certainly slightly discouraged, but as I backed out I felt a new surge of enthusiasm.

' _Surely, this can't be the only tunnel in the tree's roots?'_ I thought to myself.

By the time I reached the entrance, I was aching to explore further, but it was getting dark. Akari had already been quite clingy in the aftermath of my mission gone awry; I certainly didn't want to cause her undue stress. I stared at the tree's roots, conflicted.

' _Tomorrow,'_ I resolved internally, before turning away to return home.

I walked home lost in thought, still ecstatic over my discovery. My mind dreamed up all sorts of fantastic imagery; I pictured a massive cave with a ceiling of roots and a floor of bubbling magma, a place where I would train in secret, only showing my closest friends and confidants.

As I drifted off to sleep though, a different set of images slid into the forefront of my mind and stubbornly refused to leave. I saw blood coating my hands and pooling at my feet. I saw bodies lying broken and pulped, crushed by my fists. I saw the dead, glazed eyes of the prisoner whose life I had taken.

I saw the horrors I had just recently hoped to see, the horrors I thought I deserved to see.

I didn't sleep that night; I left my bed in the morning covered in sweat, shaking in fright, and unbearably nauseous. As I emptied my stomach into the toilet, I felt scared. I felt sick with myself. I felt anger at the world. I felt hatred towards the system. I felt pain, sorrow, guilt, and more, but underneath everything, I felt a sliver of gratitude.

I felt grateful to the Mother Tree, because I realized something wondrous about the moment I had noticed the warm wind in its roots. That moment was the first time in days that I had felt anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: A shorter chapter today, but I'm posting it with an interlude directly after!
> 
> If you're leaving a favorite or follow, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!
> 
> _____________________________________________  
> Original Characters Mentioned in this Chapter:  
> \---------------------------------------  
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the story who was reborn from our world into the world of Naruto.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and great-aunt.
> 
> Yamane Kiyoko: The counselor assigned to Kazuo after his first kill.


	12. Interlude: Breaking Confidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I live for reviews.

#  **Interlude: Breaking Confidence**

Yamane Kiyoko's office held an atmosphere of tranquility. The room had been designed to let in the perfect amount of ambient white noise, making it comforting for any patients. This environment provided a wonderful space to work; Kiyoko could immerse herself fully in analyzing observations.

Of course, there was a downside. Unexpected sounds, when they cropped up, became exponentially more distracting due to the contrasting ambiance. Kiyoko sighed as the door creaked open, and addressed the unwanted visitor.

"I'm afraid my office is closed for t—" she froze as she looked up and realized her visitor's identity. "General Watanabe!" she exclaimed, gathering together the papers messily spread across her desk.

"I apologize for my earlier words," Kiyoko offered hastily, but Suien waved her off, plopping down into one of the visitors' chairs on the other side of the desk.

"Don't worry about it," he said graciously. Suien was never one to mince words, and he preferred the same from others.

"What can I do for you?" Kiyoko asked, slightly nervous in front of her high-profile guest.

"I'm here to find out about the kid's head," Suien explained crudely, and Kiyoko looked slightly confused by his words.

"I'm… sorry?" she questioned.

"The kid, Kimoto Kazuo, my apprentice," he expanded. Kiyoko's face took on a look of understanding, then slight shock.

"I didn't realize he was your apprentice, it wasn't anywhere in the profile I was given," she insisted, flipping frantically through the papers on her desk. Kiyoko was one of the foremost psychologists in the village, and there was no way such a detail would have gotten past her.

"It wouldn't be, classified and all that," Suien explained plainly, "It's kinda an open secret though, you should keep your ear down more," he added.

Kiyoko reddened slightly, and bristled inwardly. Between meeting patients, preparing for sessions, and conducting her own research, where exactly was she supposed to find the time to 'keep her ear down?' She didn't voice any of this, of course; aggravating an Army General was a rather effective method of career suicide.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said evenly before continuing, "but I must apologize again," Kiyoko added. "I simply cannot disclose any information about my patients, unless it's for their own safety or the safety of the village."

Suien gave her an unimpressed look and leaned forward.

"Now," Suien started, speaking deliberately, "we both know I outrank anyone who can actually enforce that rule, so let's cut the bullshit, sound good?" he offered.

Kiyoko knew the question was completely rhetorical; Suien's statement was an order. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There were a number of principles a counselor was supposed to follow; she had actually been involved in drafting a number of them. Unfortunately, it didn't really matter how closely she stuck to her principles if it left her in no position to apply them.

"Very well, General," Kiyoko acquiesced. "What would you like to know?"

"How's he lookin'?" Suien asked. "Kid was off for a few days, but mostly alright. He was a complete mess yesterday though," he explained. Kiyoko nodded in agreement.

"Kazuo's initial reaction was one quite commonly seen after blooding," she explained. "He subconsciously suppressed his emotions, which is expected in the aftermath of trauma. He became a 'mess,' as you said, when his subconscious relented," she finished. Suien hummed in understanding.

"So he's on the way to getting better?" he asked.

"Oh, very much so," Kiyoko answered. "He has shown a rather spectacular level of maturity in handling his trauma. I must admit, at times I find it unnerving," she admitted.

Suien gave a slight laugh.

"Yeah, sounds about right," he said, looking out from the office's side window. "Don't watch your mouth around me, the kid's not natural and we both know it," he deadpanned.

Kiyoko blinked a few times in shock.

"I certainly wouldn't go that far—"

"Don't worry about it," Suien cut in, waving off any retort she could have offered. "So how's he taking to counseling, y'know, in general?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Quite well, actually," Kiyoko answered with genuine praise. "He seems to approach our sessions as another form of training. He feels that, like anything else, he can become 'mentally healthy' through hard work," she explained.

"Now, his attitude towards training, in general, is less healthy," she added, "but I'm rather optimistic that we'll be able to address that in time. He doesn't seem to have any intention of ending our sessions after the mandatory period."

Suien looked slightly exasperated.

"Him and training, I swear," he said, shaking his head. He stopped in thought for a few moments, searching for his next line of inquiry.

"So how'd you manage to, uh, stop the whole 'repressed emotions' thing?" Suien asked.

Kiyoko's mood soured at the question.

"I didn't do anything at all," she admitted. "He had an experience with the Mother Tree two nights ago," she explained. Suien let out a long groan and dropped his face into his hands.

"He's a tree worshipper?" he asked incredulously. Kiyoko grimaced, and pondered the question for a few moments.

"I wouldn't say that," she started. "His attitude towards the tree isn't nearly as fanatical as most 'tree worshippers,' it's much more a mix of admiration and curiosity," she explained.

"His change wasn't due to some sort of 'religious experience,' like we sometimes find. It actually seems rooted in scientific curiosity," Kiyoko added. "It seems that Kazuo found evidence of some strange geothermal phenomena under the tree," she explained. Suien looked immensely relieved.

"Oh thank god," he said with a deep sigh. Kiyoko internally agreed.

The Mother Tree was a polarizing figure in her field. Counselors could spend months working with a patient, and not help nearly as much as a single 'experience' with the tree. They were certainly grateful for the improvements in their patients, but it grated to have one's work become so trivialized.

"Alright!" Suien explained, hopping up to his feet. "Keep up the good work," he praised. "I'll come around, every once in a while," he added, much to her dismay.

As the General left the room, Kiyoko looked down at her notes and sighed; another name on the sheet caught her eye.

' _Why do I get stuck with all of the troublesome cases?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If you're leaving a favorite or follow, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!  
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------  
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn from our world into the world of Naruto.
> 
> Yamane Kiyoko: The counselor assigned to Kazuo after his first kill.


	13. Stones on a Mountainside Come Loose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for reviews.

#  **Stones on a Mountainside Come Loose**

"Dammit!" I cursed as the faint green haze around my hands dispersed.

"Don't worry, Kazuo," said the medical-nin as she walked past my workstation. "No one performs the technique successfully on the first day; in fact, most don't even succeed by the end of the course. That's not its purpose," she explained.

Satow Yoko was the teacher for the Field Medics' training course Suien had signed me up for. She was an older kunoichi, who likely had a great deal of experience as a medic. The first few hours of the class had been spent on more advanced conventional first aid methods. Stitching, CPR, splinting, and similar techniques were all taught in the academy, but this six-month course expanded on them greatly.

I preferred the topic of the last two hours of the course: medical Ninjutsu. The only two techniques the course looked at were the Mystic Palm and the Chakra Scalpel techniques; the Mystic Palm was a form of Ninjutsu that could stimulate cell growth in order to heal wounds, and the Chakra Scalpel was a technique which allowed its user to make fine incisions under a person's skin. The latter was taught mainly as a crutch for the former; if a medical-nin accidentally used the Mystic Palm to join tissue that was meant to stay separate, the Chakra Scalpel allowed for it to be separated with minimal consequence.

For the past hour and a half, the class had been attempting the Mystic Palm technique for the first time. The first step involved channeling the 'healing energies' of chakra. Chakra permeated the entirety of this world, subtly reinforcing and amplifying all aspects of life and nature. It made all creatures stronger and smarter to some extent, and it also helped us heal faster. The beginnings of most medical ninjutsu involved isolating that effect.

"In fact, why doesn't everyone listen in here," Doctor Yoko spoke up, breaking me from my thoughts. We all looked up from our workstations to the woman standing in front of my desk.

"As I was telling young Kazuo here," she continued, "many of you may not master the techniques covered in this course within the given timeframe. Do _not_ let this discourage you," she insisted.

"The purpose of this course is to familiarize you with treating injured comrades with whatever resources are available, and to give you the basic framework necessary to continue your studies of medical techniques on your own," she finished. Most of us had already inferred as much, but it was still fairly daunting to hear out loud. It was a little difficult to stomach the fact that five hundred hours of training would barely cover the basics, regardless of what we already knew regarding the rigors of the medical field.

I also knew why she had chosen this moment to speak up; I was progressing too fast. I didn't know if it was due to the fact that I had been working with chakra from a much younger age, or if it was something intrinsic to my new body, but I had an unbelievable level of aptitude for chakra control. I might have been frustrated by the fact that I could barely call the green haze for a second, but I was still the first in the class to manifest it.

I doubted the class of twelve- to sixteen-year-olds would be all that encouraged by a five-year-old showing them up.

Ultimately though, I couldn't hold myself back for the sake of their confidence. I blocked out my surroundings and once again gathered chakra into my hands.

* * *

"Alright Kazuo, I think you're ready," Ken stated. My eyes widened and a handful of stones detached from my forehead, tumbling into the water. I hopped off the surface of the pond to join my Chūnin teammate. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket.

"You know what this is, correct?" Ken asked, holding up the blank white sheet; my eyes lit up in recognition.

"Chakra paper!" I exclaimed. Chakra paper was an incredible invention; when a user channeled in a little bit of their chakra, the paper transformed based on its dominant elemental nature.

"No," Ken said bluntly. "This is just an ordinary sheet of paper."

I looked at him dumbfounded as he reached into his pocket again.

" _This_ , on the other hand, is most assuredly chakra paper," Ken explained, perfectly even-toned. I shook away my confusion and instead chose to ignore my teammate's peculiarities.

I had originally considered Jun the more obnoxious of the two Chūnin, but in time I had realized my folly. Jun was brash, offensive, and unrestrained, while Ken was the very picture of what a disciplined Samurai might resemble. There was a strange side to Ken though; he occasionally seemed to become purposefully obtuse for no reason. I had originally thought it to be the result of a unique sense of humor, but over time my theory had changed. He never broke into an amused smile or huffed out a small laugh, and I had become convinced that the kid was just a little _off_ , but certainly not in a malicious way.

I didn't want to think about it too much, so I hopped up and snatched the paper from his hand.

It crinkled before my feet touched the ground. I looked at the paper, slightly shocked.

"Huh, so lightning?" I asked.

"Indeed"

* * *

The next few months continued peacefully. The field medics course was stifling in some ways, since it took up so much of my time, but it had also provided benefits I hadn't foreseen.

For starters, I now had access to certain sections of the Medical School's libraries. I had some knowledge of biology from my past life, but it was only as much as an average high school sophomore. This world's medical knowledge was extremely inconsistent when compared to my previous world. In some areas, like healing broken bones, open wounds, torn muscles, and other injuries, the medical knowledge was infinitely more advanced than it was in 21st Century Earth. In other areas, like fighting disease, neuroscience, cancer research, and similar fields, this world lagged far behind.

I had become particularly interested in the study of hormones. The researchers of this world knew they existed, and they knew a bit about the pituitary gland, but they hadn't gone too much further than that. Some basic steroids had been developed, but nothing on the same level of what the athletes in my previous world used. This line of research had given me a few ideas. I knew that athletes used such drugs to train harder and longer than normal people, and to get more effects out of their training.

I theorized that by using medical ninjutsu, I could boost my bodies hormone levels without the use of drugs, in order to create even more pronounced effects of those steroids, while avoiding the harsh side effects. Such a technique would allow me to train twice as hard as other shinobi while reaping even more benefits from my efforts. There were, unfortunately, a number of roadblocks. I knew that Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone were chemicals that existed in my body, and did something to create the effects I wanted, but I didn't really know much more.

I didn't know how to identify them, how to boost their production, how my body made them, or anything of the sort. Thankfully, I _did_ have a place to start. Thanks to high school biology, I knew that one hormone was produced by my pituitary gland, and that the other was produced by my genitals. It wasn't much to go on, but it was enough for me.

"Back again, Kazuo?" the elderly librarian asked kindly.

I smiled and nodded, setting down a massive stack of books. She huffed out a small laugh.

"I swear, you have such odd interests," she said, reading over the title of a book as she noted its identification number: _Identification and classification of chemical messengers in the human body._

"It's interesting!" I insisted, drawing another smile from the woman.

"I'm quite certain that most children your age would strongly disagree," she retorted. I rolled my eyes, snorting.

"Yeah, and they're all boring, so the stuff they don't find interesting is the stuff that's actually interesting," I argued with flawless logic. The woman was forced to concede my point.

"Hmm. I suppose you're right," she said kindly, finishing up with the last of my books. "Would you like to borrow a scroll for these?" she asked. I nodded immediately. I lived halfway across the village from the medical school, and had no desire to carry such an unwieldy load over that distance. After pocketing the small scroll, I gave the librarian a quick wave before heading home for the night.

* * *

"Good, good, now just hold it," Ken instructed as I forced energy through my extended palm.

A metal pole was planted in the ground in front of me, and sparks jumped towards it from my hand. The exercise was simple in theory; the pole was grounded, and my job was to vibrate the chakra in my hand until it developed a strong charge. Eventually, the difference in charge between the two points would become so great that electrical energy would discharge from my hand to the pole, forming a current.

In practice, the process was far more difficult than it seemed.

I had been able to get a few sparks dancing between my hand and the pole on the first day, but getting a consistent current going had taken several weeks. Finally, after more than two months of practice, I was able to form a powerful current with a second or two of intense concentration. Starting the current wasn't the hard part; the hard part was starting it quickly and keeping it sustained with enough power to do any damage.

This proficiency was good enough for a shinobi to start learning most techniques, and generally took the better part of a year to accomplish, but it still wasn't anywhere near what would be considered 'mastery.' For that, I would need to keep practicing until I could transform my chakra effortlessly and at any moment.

I broke out of my thoughts when I started to feel the train on my reserves, indicating that a few minutes had passed.

"Good, now cut it," Ken directed. I dropped my hand immediately and let out a large sigh of relief. He pulled a scroll from his pocket and tossed it to me.

"This is one of the few D-rank techniques our village distributes for the Lightning Release," Ken explained. I opened up the scroll and read the technique's name as he spoke.

' _Lightning Release: Thunder,'_ it read. The technique seemed fairly useful; it involved shooting out a number of small bolts of electricity from one's palms. Due to the speed at which a current could travel, the technique was extremely hard to dodge; however, it didn't do all that much damage. I was perfectly alright with the drawback. It would stun an opponent for a few moments, giving me plenty of time to capitalize and finish them off.

It also only required nine hand seals in its most expanded form. Hand seals were an unfortunate necessity in this world; it took years of constant practice to perform a technique effectively without any seals, so instead most focused on cutting the number required down to less than three. This allowed users to perform them quickly enough for them to be effective without needing such diligent training.

When I had first learned this fact, I had immediately started working on trying to re-create the _Rasengan_. Unfortunately, I quickly realized just why it was an A-ranked technique. The first stage of Jiraiya's training method from the manga was actually quite easy. It had taken a few days of regular practice, and a decent amount of concentration to execute, but I had become quite adept at popping water balloons by revolving my chakra in numerous directions. The second step wasn't anywhere near as straightforward. I had spent a few hours trying to pop a rubber ball, but the amount of power required had not only exhausted my chakra reserves, but it had also heavily strained the chakra coils in my hands, leaving them raw and inflamed.

I had resolved to come back to it after my body matured a little further.

For now, I would have to resign myself to the necessity of hand signs. I set down the scroll and got to work, fantasizing about Lightning Armor and the Chidori as I made sparks dance across the field.

' _Maybe not today, but one day, for sure.'_

* * *

"Yo."

"Ah!" I screamed, and spun to face the sudden intrusion. I had been doing my own physical training at an empty field, and I certainly hadn't expected any visitors.

"Uncle!" I shouted, realizing who had arrived. "Don't do that, what the hell?" I asked. I already knew he could sneak up on me without any effort; he didn't need to rub it in.

"You give me plenty of headaches already," he scoffed, "I'll get my licks in whenever I feel like it."

I scowled but didn't argue back, because I knew I didn't make his life any easier.

"I'm here to get your side of the bargain," Suien explained. I looked at him, slightly confused.

"My side of the bargain?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Yup, ready to learn Genjutsu?" he asked, prompting me to remember what he was talking about. I had agreed to learn a few Genjutsu in exchange for getting a spot in the Field Medics' training course.

"Sure thing, I guess," I said, turning to give him my full attention. Genjutsu might not have been my favorite field, but I would never refuse personal instruction from a Jōnin.

* * *

"So, what do you think is the aim of Genjutsu?" Suien asked, kicking off the lesson. I stopped to think for a moment.

"To trick the enemy into ignoring what you're doing?" I asked, somewhat confident in my answer. Suien nodded.

"That's a good start, but let's get a little more general," he started, "the objective of Genjutsu is to change your target's perceptions. Nothing more, nothing less," Suien explained. I had known that, but I hadn't been thinking he would start at the very basics.

"We do that by inserting little drops of chakra into their nervous system. The tinier the drop, the less noticeable the effect, and the harder it gets to dispel the Genjutsu." he continued. "Now, can you tell me what you've been missing since I got here?" he asked with a small grin.

My eyebrows scrunched for a second before I frantically started looking around the field while scanning my body for any foreign chakra. It took me a second to find it, but I noticed a faint buzz in my left forearm. I immediately pulsed my chakra like I had been taught in the academy, and the feeling vanished.

"What did you do?" I asked, looking around for any changes in my perceptions. Suien's grin grew a little wider.

"Absolutely nothing," he said slyly. "Remember that your sense of chakra is a part of your perceptions," he explained.

I started to understand what he was alluding to.

"So part of Genjutsu could just be messing with someone's chakra sense," I deduced, and Suien nodded in agreement.

"To take it a step further, Genjutsu is basically here to make your opponent paranoid. The fact is that most people never get good enough to truly ensnare targets in intricate illusions without a serious amount of passion and practice," he explained, implying that I was one of those people who wouldn't get 'good enough.'

"What most people can do with enough practice, though, is throw enemies off their game. You start tossing Genjutsu at a guy, and he'll start doubting his own senses. He might dispel all of them, but there's this nagging voice in the back of his head that says there's another one he doesn't notice. Toss Genjutsu at him that don't do anything, and he gets paranoid, he can't tell what the issue was, or if there was an issue at all. You end up getting into his head, and once you do that you're halfway to victory."

I looked at the man with excitement, starting to look at Genjutsu in a new light. Psychological warfare wasn't as cool as punching someone's face in, but it was still up there.

' _Besides, after the last time I used my fists…'_ I thought, trailing off and wincing slightly. I hadn't been massively traumatized by the act of taking a life, but experiences like mine definitely left a mark.

' _I could use some ways to do things more cleanly,'_ I decided.

"So how do I start?" I asked Suien eagerly. He smiled triumphantly at my changed attitude towards Genjutsu.

"I'm glad you asked."

* * *

The rest of the session was unfortunately not quite as engaging. We started to get more in-depth regarding the mechanics of casting Genjutsu; things like which nerves to target; how exactly spiritual energy turned into 'pictures,' 'smells,' 'sounds,' and the like; and how to minimize the amount of chakra used.

I had gained more of a respect for Genjutsu users, who often managed to send out dozens, or even hundreds of little 'packages' of chakra containing information meant to fool the nervous system. These packages were so small that even casting hundreds of Genjutsu would be possible for someone with small chakra reserves; however, the amount of concentration required to manage so many illusions was unimaginable for me. I still didn't plan on making it my specialty, but I respected it a lot more than I did before.

I returned home distracted with such thoughts, which was why I was taken completely off guard by the intruder in my room.

I leaped back into a defensive stance and grabbed a knife from my pouch.

"Woah, woah, little gramps," the intruder said, "calm down a little bit."

I blinked in shock as I registered the voice.

"Sora!" I exclaimed as I pulsed my chakra in case this was an illusion; Suien's training session had left me a little paranoid. Reassured, I slipped my knife back into its pouch and ran to embrace the boy.

"Hey little man, have you gotten shorter?" Sora asked playfully, patting my head as I hugged him. I punched him sharply in the ribs, making the older genin wince.

"Alright, alright," he said, rubbing his side.

"How come you're back?" I asked. From what I knew, he was stationed at one of the closest fortresses on a long-term C-rank mission.

It was pretty much the safest option for a genin with a Jōnin teacher; the village couldn't afford to waste the abilities of a Jōnin, and the nearby fortresses needed a few elites present at all times, so staffing them with teams like Sora's kept the genin safe and kept the village's perimeter secure.

"Ah, you didn't think I'd miss your sixth birthday, did you?" Sora asked. I looked at him with an expression of doubt.

"I don't think your mission rotation cares about my birthday," I deadpanned, earning a flick to the forehead.

"Don't be a smartass," Sora said as I winced. "You're right though," he admitted, looking down at me with an excited smile.

"I'm actually here for my Chūnin exams."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: A shorter chapter today, but I'm posting it with an interlude directly after!
> 
> If you're leaving kudos, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!
> 
> _____________________________________________  
> Original Characters Mentioned in this Chapter:  
> \---------------------------------------  
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn from our world into the world of Naruto.
> 
> Satow Yoko: An experience medical-nin who teaches Kazuo's Field Medics' class.
> 
> Nagano Ken: A Chūnin on Kazuo's team under Suien. Served in a three-genin-cell under Suien.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Kazuo's first friend, and son of Suien, one of Takigakure's top military leaders.


	14. Stones Join a Rockslide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for reviews.

#  **Stones Join a Rockslide**

"Congratulations!" I exclaimed, and Sora beamed down at me proudly, but after a second a small blush started to form on his face.

"Thanks," he said, chuckling with slight embarrassment.

"Do you think you're ready?" I asked.

"Of course," he waved off. "They only send you to the exams if they're already going to promote you," he explained.

I nodded in understanding. From what I knew, the Chūnin exams were just a formality for the participants; their real purpose was as a spectacle and morale-booster for the village's residents.

The vast majority of genin were promoted to Chūnin quietly, as a result of their length of service, deeds of merit, or improved ability. The only ones who took exams were the genin that had spectacular combat capabilities and a propensity for flashy techniques, making the Chūnin exams essentially a massive sporting event: the only sporting event most ninja cared about. If Sora had been selected for the exams, it meant his promotion was set in stone, and that he was exceptional enough for the village to include him in the spectacle.

"They start Friday, right?" I inquired; there was no shortage of advertising displayed around the village.

"Yup, and I got your tickets," Sora answered, flashing a grin and pulling two slips of paper from his pocket. I took them eagerly. Tickets weren't hard to get ahold of, but friends and family got the best seating.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed. The exams didn't just provide great entertainment, they offered a chance to see a variety of fighting styles up-close.

Sora brushed me off before taking a look out of the window, into the night sky.

"Alright little man, I'm going to have to head out now," he said, realizing the time.

"Alright, see you on Friday!"

"I'll hold you to it!"

* * *

The next day was a Sunday, which left me with a great deal of free time.

In the morning, I had gone through another counseling session with Kiyoko, before finishing off a few chores for Akari's tea house. Unfortunately, she chased me off after a few hours, telling me to go relax. I had briefly considered meeting up with Sho, Kou, Hisoka, and Mitsuo, but eventually dismissed the idea. While their childish innocence had been comforting initially, by now it had started to grate.

With nothing else to do, I eventually found myself back in front of the Mother tree, but in a very different spot from the area I normally visited. The tree's gargantuan branches stretched out kilometers from the trunk, providing several great spots to sit down and enjoy a view of the village. I found myself on one of these branches, accompanied by a stack of books on various medical topics related to hormones.

I wasn't really in the mood to crack any of them open at the moment; I was in a mood to think.

After my recent experience with mortality, I had started thinking more and more about my past life.

I had once been Tenzin Zam, a child of immigrants, born in New York City's Chinatown: not the gentrified tourist hotspot in Manhattan, but the sprawling neighborhood in Queens.

It's almost laughable how I'd ended up orphaned in both lives. Sadly, I hadn't been fortunate enough to know my parents back then; they had both passed away before I could remember, in one of the many riots that plagued the city throughout my lifetime. Luckily, one of the Buddhist temples nearby had started taking in orphans, and I had grown up comfortably.

I had been a fairly clever child, not a genius by any means, but I generally performed well academically. I hadn't been the most social child though and often found myself seeking solace within the numerous fictional worlds that gained prominence in society.

Sadly, growing up in a monastery had left me short on pocket change to pay for new web novel chapters or subscriptions. So I often found myself in old libraries browsing through old works from the previous generations. Naruto was one I had taken a particular interest in _._ By the time I was a young teenager, the manga was almost forty years old, but I had still been immensely fascinated by the world of Kishimoto Masashi's creation.

I had no idea how I had ended up in this world. It could have been some divine mistake or the whim of an immensely powerful being, but as I looked over the Village Hidden in the Waterfalls, I couldn't help but feel grateful. This world was horrifying in many ways, but it suffered from no shortage of beauty. The flora and fauna flourished, untouched by the poisons spread through industrialization, and the cruelty of this world was beautiful in its own way.

In my past life, we were all told that we had freedom and agency, but in truth, opportunities were reserved for the elite. At least this world was honest about its nature, and I could appreciate that honesty, even if I wanted to change that nature.

My thoughts turned towards the goal I had established so many years ago.

At two years of age, I had resolved myself to the task of bringing about a revolution: to the task of establishing a semblance of peace in this world of endless warfare. Somewhere in the last four years, I had gotten lost on the road of life. Sato Takao, the young casualty of my first mission gone awry, had shocked me out of my complacency and reminded me of my task. As time went on, I started thinking about the man I killed less and less, and the child who died more and more.

The prisoner had shown no hesitation in striking down a child, and I knew that was nothing unique. I wasn't deluding myself; I knew that people like Suien, Kayo, and even my own parents may have killed extremely young shinobi in the field. It was a reality of the world I now lived in, and one I would change.

Breaking the cycle of warfare and hatred was too abstract an overarching goal. I would try my hardest, but I needed more specific targets. Stopping the senseless exploitation of children as cannon fodder had become one of these targets.

In his death, Sato Takao had launched a spark towards the pile of spent embers in my heart. Weeks of thought and philosophy had added kindling, and as I sat on a branch overlooking the village, a small flame sprang up within me once more.

Content with my introspection for the day, I turned my attention towards my medical texts.

* * *

"Hey, kid," Jun prompted, stepping back as I picked myself up from the dirt. "You ever get tired of training?"

"Not really," I replied almost immediately, "there's so many different things to do," I added. Jun nodded a few times upon hearing my reply, considering my words.

"Yeah but, you don't ever just get exhausted with all of it?" he questioned.

"Eh, I guess?" I said, shrugging my shoulders, "but what else is there to do?" I asked. "If I didn't train, I'd be pretty bored."

Jun looked at me strangely, before letting out a sigh.

"Nevermind," he said. "Anyways, your Taijutsu is definitely improving, but you've slowed down a little," he explained, switching topics. I winced slightly.

"Yeah, there's just so much else to focus on," I replied. My time was split five ways: between medical techniques, Genjutsu, elemental Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and keeping up my physical conditioning. I still dedicated the most time to the last two, but it was now a plurality rather than a majority.

"I hear ya," Jun said, "but something's gotta go, have you thought a little more about what you want to do?" he asked.

"What I want to do?" I repeated.

"Yeah, like I remember you said you wanted to specialize in Taijutsu. Is that still what you want?" he clarified.

I stopped to think for a moment. I still considered Genjutsu and medical Ninjutsu as supporting skills, so I turned my thoughts towards elemental Ninjutsu. The most powerful lightning release techniques I could think of were the Raikage's Lightning Armor or Kakashi's Purple Lightning. The former was frequently mentioned in public information regarding the Third Raikage, but the latter was simply a memory from the fictional series; I had no way of knowing whether it would even be possible.

Realistically, the most powerful lightning technique I could learn in the near future was ' _False Darkness,'_ a technique that created an immensely powerful spear of electricity; the spear was capable of piercing through most defenses with ease. It wasn't weak by any means, but in the grand scheme of things, I found it underwhelming.

"Yeah, I still think Taijutsu's the best route," I finally answered, "everything else is just support."

Jun snorted slightly.

"An awful lot of 'support' for a fresh genin," he quipped. I scowled at him.

"It's been almost a year, I'm not so fresh anymore," I argued, but the older boy just chuckled.

"Oh yeah, the five-year-old's a real veteran," Jun retorted sarcastically. I huffed petulantly and turned to the side.

"Either way," the Chūnin continued, ignoring my reaction, "you're overworking yourself and it's slowing you down," he explained. Grudgingly, I had to admit that he was right.

"I can cut back on my own medical research," I decided. After four months, my course would be over, and I would be able to make up for lost time.

"You think you can get an extra hour a day out of that?" Jun asked. I paused to think for a moment.

"Yeah, I should," I answered, tallying up the amount of time I spent on research. Jun nodded approvingly.

"Good, then turn your weights up a setting and get an extra hour of sleep each night," he instructed. I looked at him in surprise for a moment, but my expression quickly shifted into one of understanding.

I thought through his words; the added load from my training weights would increase my rate of physical improvement, and the extra sleep would ensure my body wasn't overworked. I hadn't considered such action on my own accord, because Jun and Suien had been _very_ insistent that I avoid messing with my training weights without their permission, but now it seemed like I was ready.

"We'll skip conditioning on days you train with me," Jun continued, bringing me from my thoughts. "Instead, we'll just get an extra hour of sparring in," he explained.

If I turned up my training weights, the loss of an hour of conditioning wouldn't be that big of a deal. Further, from my experience, there was no better way to improve at Taijutsu than being continuously beaten into the ground by a superior foe.

"Sounds like a plan," I responded in affirmative.

* * *

The next few days were painful; the increased weight wasn't easy to get used to with my six-year-old frame.

My sixth birthday had passed by on Wednesday, to much fanfare from Sora and Akari. We held a small get-together with Suien's family, my teammates, and Sora's teammates, and that was more than enough for me; I had never been big on parties.

Though the days seemed to pass by slowly, Friday finally arrived, marking the official start of the Chūnin exams.

"I think I see him!" I exclaimed, pointing out into the crowd of genin assembled in the center of the stadium. "He's in the fourth row, third from the right," I explained; Hana and Akari immediately turned their gazes to the point I described.

"Ah, I see him!" Hana exclaimed. "Thank you, Kazuo," she added.

I counted sixty-four genin, standing at attention in a square formation below, but my attention soon turned to the balcony at the north edge of the stadium. Shibuki strode forward regally, smiling at the crowd.

"Welcome, Land of Waterfalls!" he exclaimed, voice booming across the packed arena. The crowd came alive, exploding into a wave of loud, zealous cheers. I couldn't help but join in with the festivities; the enthusiasm was contagious.

Most of the attendants were desperate for some sort of escape; many had just returned from the battlefield and others had loved ones still out there. I was lucky enough to have remained isolated from the stresses of war. Suien's missions were far too critical for me to know when he was out in the field, and aside from him, no one I cared about actually saw the front lines.

After a few minutes, the cheering died down and Shibuki spoke again.

"I am honored to stand before you all, in a celebration of this great village's prowess!

Every day, without fail, I thank the Holy Spirits of the world for granting me an immense gift. I wasn't just gifted with the chance to _live_ in this Land: no.

I was gifted with the chance to _lead_ it!" he announced full of spirit, and the crowd exploded once again.

"I was gifted with the chance to lead this Land, as it stands side-by-side with the greatest of the Five Great Nations, in a war of righteousness against the villains of this world."

His words quieted the crowd slightly, as a more sober atmosphere took over.

"The Land of Earth seeks to reap our fields, leaving them barren. They wish to tear the food from our children's hands! Tell me, Land of Waterfalls, will we let them?"

"NO!" came the resounding cry from the thousands of gathered villagers.

"The Land of Winds seeks to drain our rivers, drying our lands. They wish for our children to grow thirsty! Land of Waterfalls, will we let them?"

"NO!" came a second, louder cry from those assembled.

"The Land of Lightning seeks to take the most from us, they seek our lives. They wish to take our children away, once and for all."

"NO!"

The third cry was deafening, whipping the gathered attendants into an angry fervor.

"No, we will not!" Shibuki bellowed in agreement, kicking off another roar of support.

"And today, the young stars of our village will show exactly how we plan to deal with those who seek our downfall!" he announced, pivoting to the topic of today's event.

"You all have gathered here today to celebrate this village's promising future!

Sixty-four of our genin stand before me. Through immense dedication, talent, and luck, they have distinguished themselves as ideal representatives for this nation's spirit." Shibuki explained with pride.

The crowd cheered yet again, eager to shower the young shinobi with praise.

"Over the next month, these young champions will engage first in a test of their wits, then in a test of their perseverance, before finally meeting one another in pitched battle.

I truly cannot wait to see how this generation will amaze me, so please stand, for I hereby announce the start of the hundred-and-fourth, biannual, Chūnin exams!"

As Shibuki's bellow echoes through the stands, fifty-thousand voices thundered through the air.

I had never been much of a sports fan, but standing in this atmosphere, I finally understood the appeal.

* * *

After Shibuki's speech, and a few short ceremonies lead by the Village Elders, a rugged-looking Kunoichi flickered from the balcony to the center of the field.

"Good afternoon, Takigakure!" she greeted, receiving thousands of shouts in return.

"My name is Teshima Rika, and ten years ago, on this very day, I stood before you all as a competitor in this event.

It is my privilege, and honor, to stand before you again, this time as the proctor for the first stage of Takigakure's Chūnin Exams!

So tell me, are you ready?" she bellowed.

"YES!" came the resounding cry from the crowd.

"Very well, Participants!" Rika shouted, turning to the assembled genin. "Report to your standby station," she instructed, and the young shinobi reacted immediately.

' _They must have rehearsed,'_ I surmised mentally.

The Proctor then blurred through a set of hand-signs and slammed her hand into the ground.

The field crumbled away, revealing a massive maze underneath. The platform on which Rika stood revealed itself to be the roof of a large cell. The cell was surrounded by several layers of protective walls, all topped off with barbed wire.

"What you see here is a course designed to test each genin's ability to escape capture," Rika explained. She hopped off the cell and soared through the sky, before landing back on the balcony from which Shibuki had addressed the crowd.

"Each participant will have their chakra sealed away when they enter the cell. Further, their eyesight will be sealed to mimic the effects of a cloudy, moonless night. Their sense of smell will be sealed to mimic the effects of smoke inhalation, and their hearing will be sealed to mimic the effects of ruptured eardrums."

I was a little shocked by Rika's explanation. The first stage sounded far more intense than I expected, and I had no idea how I would perform in a similar situation.

I started to grow concerned; I knew my combat abilities were growing extremely rapidly, and weren't far off from some of the less capable Chūnin, but there were gaps in my skill-set that I needed to address.

"Once again I ask you, are you ready Waterfall?"

"YES!"

"Then let us begin!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: If you're leaving a kudos, I'd really appreciate a review, even if it's just a quick comment! It can be difficult to build up the motivation to write without any feedback. Thanks!
> 
> _______________________________  
> Directory of Original Characters:  
> \---------------------------  
> Kimoto Kazuo: The main character of the fic who was reborn from our world into the world of Naruto.
> 
> Watanabe Sora: Kazuo's first friend, and son of Suien, one of Takigakure's top military leaders.
> 
> Yamane Kiyoko: The counselor assigned to Kazuo after his first kill.
> 
> Mori Akari: Kazuo's caretaker and great-aunt.
> 
> Watanabe Hana: Wife of Suien and mother of Sora, helped train Kazuo and Sora.
> 
> Teshima Rika: Proctor for the first stage of Sora's Chūnin exams.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in large part my Waki Paki's Thread Plague, I decided to make my own Takigakure-centric SI.
> 
> I'll embrace a bit of realism/rationalism in this fic, but only so-far as to combat the Shounen logic the original series runs on. It will be nowhere near as depressingly gritty as the 'darkness for the sake of darkness' fics you often see, or as clinical as actual rational fics.
> 
> My main inspirations are A World Full of Monsters, Shinobi Team 7, and Team 7's Ascension.


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